Parthenogenic blastocysts cultured under in vivo conditions exhibited proliferation and differentiation expression genes similar to those normal embryos

Abstract

Parthenotes embryos offer multiple possibilities in biotechnological investigations, such as stem cell research. However, there is still a dearth of knowledge of this kind of embryos. In this study, we analyzed development and ploidy in parthenotes under in vitro and in vivo culture conditions. Subsequently, using real-time PCR, we analyzed the expression of factor OCT-4, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 3 and Transforming Growth Factor )2 genes to compare the kind of embryo at the blastocyst stage. Development and implantation of parthenotes embryos were describe after transfer at day 10 of pregnancy. Parthenotes showed similar blastocyst development for both culture conditions and that most of the parthenotes produced were diploid. However, parthenotes developed under in vivo conditions showed similar mRNA expression of OCT-4, VEGF and TGF- 2 to 5 and 6 day old blastocysts. While, parthenotes developed under in vitro conditions had altered the expression pattern of these genes, except for erbB3 mRNA. Finally, transferred parthenotes had the ability to implant but showed severe growth retardation and lesser size. This is the first demonstration of the influence of culture conditions on parthenotes mRNA expression. Our study highlights the importance of culture conditions in the subsquent uses of parthenotes such as the production of stem cell lines.