Intracellular cathepsin B activity is inversely correlated with the quality and developmental competence of bovine preimplantation embryos.

Autor: Balboula AZ; National Agricultural Research Center for Kyushu Okinawa Region, Suya, Kumamoto, Japan., Yamanaka K, Sakatani M, Hegab AO, Zaabel SM, Takahashi M
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Molecular reproduction and development [Mol Reprod Dev] 2010 Dec; Vol. 77 (12), pp. 1031-9.
DOI: 10.1002/mrd.21250
Abstrakt: Recently, the activity of cathepsins B was found to be correlated inversely with the developmental competence of bovine oocytes. In this study, we investigated (1) the role of intracellular cathepsin B expression and developmental competence as well as the quality of bovine preimplantation embryos, and (2) the effect of cathepsin B inhibitor (E-64) during in vitro culture (IVC) on the development and quality of bovine embryos. After in vitro fertilization (IVF) followed by IVC for 7 days, good and poor quality embryos classified by morphology and developmental rate on days 2, 4, and 7 were assessed for cathepsin B expression and activity. To investigate the effect of cathepsin B inhibition on embryonic development, putative zygotes were cultured with or without E-64, followed by evaluation of cleavage and blastocyst rates on days 2 and 7, respectively. Embryonic quality was evaluated by both TUNEL staining and total cell number in day-7 blastocysts. In each developmental stage, cathepsin B expression and activity were significantly higher in poor quality embryos than good quality ones. Moreover, addition of E-64 during IVC significantly increased both the blastocyst rate and the total cell number. TUNEL staining revealed that inhibition of cathepsin B significantly decreased the number of apoptotic nuclei in day-7 blastocysts. These results indicate that cathepsin B activity can be useful as a marker for inferior quality embryos. Moreover, inhibition of cathepsin B greatly improves the developmental competence of preimplantation embryos and increases the number of good quality embryos.
(Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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