Generation of rat-mouse chimeras by introducing single cells of rat inner cell masses into mouse blastocysts

In the field of developmental biology and regenerative medicine,mammalian interspecific chimeras have been proved very useful for investigating early embryonic development and the immune system establishment,and extended to a promising potential for human organ generation（Rossant et al.,1982）.

The Potential of Rat Inner Cell Mass and Fetal Neural Stem Cells to Generate Chimeras

The rat chimera is an important animal model for the study of complex human diseases. In the present study we evaluated the chimeric potential of rat inner cell masses （ICMs） and fetal neural stem （FNS） cells. In result, three rat chimeras were produced by day 5 （D5） Sprague-Dawley （SD） blastocysts injected with ICMs derived from day 6 （D6） and D5 Dark Agouti （DA） blastocysts; four rat chimeras had been generated by D5 DA blastocyst injected with D5 SD ICMs. For the requirement of gene modification, cultured rat inner cell mass cells were assessed to produce chimeras, but no chimeras were generated from injected embryos. The potential to generate chimeras from rFNS and transfected rFNS cells were tested, but no chimeric pups were produced. Only 2 of 41 fetuses derived from D5 DA blastocyst injection with SD LacZ transfected rFNS cells showed very low number of LacZ positive cells in the section. These results indicate that DA and SD rat ICMs arc able to contribute to chimeras, but their potential decreases significantly after culture in vitro （P〈0.05）, and rFNS cells only have the potential to contribute to early fetal development.

Research on Isolation and Clone of Embryonic Stem Cell-Like in Bovine

Bovine embryonic stem cell would be invaluable for researching the aspect of animal cloning, production transgenic animal and discussion of gene function in vitro. With the object of establishing an effective culture system for isolation and clone of bovine pluripotent stem cell, we cultured bovine embryos and mouse embryos including morula blastula and hatached blastula and obtained animal ICM on Primary murine embryonic fibroblast (Primary murine embryonic fibroblast, PMEF) feeder layer with tissue medium(DMEM supplemented with 15ml/100ml NBS,0.1μmol/L Na2SeO3, 0.1mmol/L p-mercaptoethanol, 1000ng/ml LIF, 10 ng/ml IGF, 1mmol/L necessary amino acid and 1mmol/L L-glutamine),then,we obtained mouse ICM and bovine ICM. Moreover, we isolated and cloned the 6 passage bovine ES like cells(12 cell lines) and 9 passage murine ES like cells (52 cell lines) deriving from bovine ICM and murine ICM respectively on the feeder layer of PMEF by disaggregating ICM and ES cell clones of bovine and murine into smaller clumps through digesting with 0.125g/100ml trypsin and 0.02g/100ml EDTA and scattering with a glass needle. The pluripotency of both murine and bovine ES like cells was identified with morphological character, histochemistry identification , karyotype analysis and differentiation of ES cells in vitro or in vivo. This result showed that bovine embryonic stem cell and murine embryonic stem cell had developmental pluripotency.

Xeno-free derivation and culture of human embryonic stem cells： current status, problems and challenges

Human embryonic stem cells （hESC） not only hold great promise for the treatment of degenerative diseases but also provide a valuable tool for developmental studies. However, the clinical applications of hESC are at present limited by xeno-contamination during the in vitro derivation and propagation of these cells. In this review, we summarize the current methodologies for the derivation and the propagation of hESC in conditions that will eventually enable the generation of clinical-grade cells for future therapeutic applications.

Molecular basis of the first cell fate determination in mouse embryogenesis

Through proliferation and differentiation, a single cell, the zygote, can give rise to a complex organism composed of many types of cells. Up to the eight-cell embryo stage, the blastomeres are morphologically identical and distributed symmetrically in the mammalian embryo. Functionally, in some species, they are all totipotent. However, due to the compaction of blastomeres and the asymmetrical cell division at the late phase of the eight-cell embryo, the blastomeres of the morula are no longer identical. During the transition from morula to blastocyst, blastomeres differentiate, resulting in the first cell fate decision in embryogenesis, namely, the segregation of the inner cell mass and the tropheetoderm. In this review, we will discuss the regulatory mechanisms essential for the cell fate choice during blastocyst development, including transcriptional regulation, epigenetic regulation, mieroRNAs, and signal transduction.

Research on Growth Behavior of Embryos for Bovine and Murine on Primary Murine Embryos Fibroblast Cell Feeder Layer

The difference in growth behavior between bovine embryos and murine embryos was studied on PMEF(primary murine embryos fibroblast)feeder layer. The results showed as follows: With embryos having attached, bovine embryonic trophoblast formed a transparent membranous structure covering on inner cell mass (ICM), however, murine embryonic trophoblast formed disc structure. Bovine embryos formed four kinds of ICM colonies with different morphology including the mass-like, the net-like, the stream-like and the

Overall Blastocyst Quality, Trophectoderm Grade, and Inner Cell Mass Grade Predict Pregnancy Outcome in Euploid Blastocyst Transfer Cycles

Background： Despite recent advances that have improved the pregnancy success rates that can be achieved via in vitro fertilization （IVF） therapy, it is not yet clear which blastocyst morphological paralneters best predict the outcomes of single blastocyst transfer. In addition. most of the previous studies did not exclude the effect of embryo aneuploidy on blastocysts transfer. Thus, the present study investigated the predictive value of various parameters on the pregnancy outcomes achieved via the transfer of frozcn euploid blastocysts. Methods： The study retrospectively analyzed 914 single euploid blastocyst transfer cycles that were performed at the Peking U laivcrsity Third Hospital Reproductive Medical Center between June 2011 and May 2016. The expansion, trophectoderm （TE）. and inner cell mass （ICM） quality of the blastocysts were assessed based on blastocyst parameters, and used to differentiate between ＂excellent＂, ＂good＂, ＂average＂, and ＂poor＂-quality embryos. The relationship between these embryo grades and the achieved pregnancy outcomes was then analyzed via the Chi-square and logistic regression tests. Results： For embryo grades of excellent, good, average and poor, the clinical pregnancy rates were 65.0%. 50.3%, 50.3% and 33.3%. respectively; and the live-birth rates were 50.0%, 49.7%, 42.3% and 25.0%, respectively. Both the clinical pregnancy ratc （x2= 21.28. P = 0.001） and live-birth rate （x2 = 13.50, P 〈 0.001） increased with the overall blastocyst grade. Both rates were significanlly higher after the transfer era blastocyst that exhibited either an A-grade or B-grade TE, and similarly, an A-grade ICM. than after the transfer el a blastocyst that exhibited a C-grade TE and/or ICM. The degree of blastocysl expansion had no apparent effect on the clinical pregnancy or live-birth rate. All odds ratio were adjusted for patient age, body mass index, length （years） of infertility history, and infertility type. Conclusions： A higher overall euploid blastocyst quality is shown to correlate most strongly with optimal pregnancy outcomes. The study thus supports the use of the described TE and ICM morphological grades to augment current embryo selection criteria.

Influence of Blastocysts Morphological Score on Pregnancy Outcomes in Frozen-thawed Blastocyst Transfers: a Retrospective Study of 741 Cycles

The influence of inner cell mass （ICM） and trophectoderm （TE） score on pregnancy out- comes in frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer cycles was analyzed. A retrospective analysis of 741 cycles of frozen-thawed blastosysts transfer was performed. All cycles were divided into four groups based on the number and morphological score of blastocysts： S-ICM B/TE B group （n=91）, the single blastocyst transfer oflCM B and TE B; D-ICM B/TE B group （n=579）, double blastocysts transfer oflCM B/TE B; D-1CM B/TE C group （n=35）, double blastocysts transfer of ICM B/TE C; and D-ICM C/TE B group （n=36）, double blastocysts transfer ofTE B/ICM C. The pregnancy outcomes were compared among the four groups. As compared with D-ICM B/TE C group, the clinical pregnancy rate, implantation rate and multiple pregnancy rate were increased in D-ICM B/TE B group （74.96% vs. 57.14%, 57.43% vs. 37.14%, and .48.62% vs. 25%, respectively, P〈0.05 for all）. Clinical pregnancy rate and implantation rate in D-ICM B/TE B group were also higher than in D-ICM C/TE B group （74.96% vs. 50%, and 57.43% vs. 33.33%, both P〈0.05）. Multivariable Logistic regression analysis indicated that ICM score was a better predictive parameter for clinical pregnancy （OR=3.05, CI 1.70-5.46, P〈0.001）, while the trophectoderm score was a better one for early abortion （OR=0.074, CI 0.03-0.19, P〈0.001）. Clinical pregnancy rate and multiple pregnancy rate in S-ICM B/TE B group were significantly lower than those in D-ICM B/TE B group （46.15% vs. 74.96%, and 2.38% vs. 48.62%, both P〈0.05）, but there was no si~,,niflcant difference in the implantation rate between the two groups. It was suggested that the higher score of ICM and TE may be indicative of the better pregnancy outcomes. The ICM score is a better predictor of clinical pregnancy than TE, while TE score is a better one in predicting early abortion. Sin- gle ICM B/TE B blastocyst transfer in frozen-thawed cycles can also get satisfactory pregnancy out- comes.

Derivation and characterization of human embryonic stem cell lines from poor quality embryos

Poor quality embryos discarded from in vitro fertilization （IVF） laboratories are good sources for deriving human embryonic stem cell （hESC） lines. In this study, 166 poor quality embryos donated from IVF centers on day 3 were cultured in a blastocyst medium for 2 days, and 32 early blastocysts were further cultured in a blastocyst optimum culture medium for additional 2 days so that the inner cell masses （ICMs） could be identified and isolated easily. The ICMs of 17 blastocysts were isolated by a mechanical method, while those of the other 15 blastocysts were isolated by immunosurgery. All isolated ICMs were inoculated onto a feeder layer for subcultivation. The rates of ICM attachment, primary ICM colony formation and the efficiency of hESC derivation were similar between the ICMs isolated by the two methods （P〉0.05）. As a result, four new hESC lines were established. Three cell lines had normal karyotypes and one had an unbalanced Robertsonian translocation. All cell lines showed normal hESC characteristics and had the differentiation ability. In conclusion, we established a stable and effective method for hESC isolation and culture, and it was confirmed that the mechanical isolation was an effective method to isolate ICMs from poor embryos. These results further indicate that hESC lines can be derived from poor quality embryos discarded by IVF laboratories.

Establishment and characterization of two new human embryonic stem cell lines,SYSU-1 and SYSU-2

Background Human embryonic stem cells can propagate indefinitely in vitro and are able to differentiate into derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers. The excitement surrounding human embryonic stem cells lies largely in their potential to produce specialized cells that can be used for transplant therapies. However, further investigation requires additional cell lines with varying genetic background. Therefore, efforts to derive and establish more human embryonic stern cell lines are highly warranted. Methods Surplus embryos （blastocysts） from donors were used to isolate the inner cell mass by immunosurgery. All cells were cultured continuously on irradiated murine embryonic fibroblasts feed layer and likely human embryonic stem cell colonies were subsequently characterized by cell surface marker staining, karyotyping and teratoma formation. Results Two human embryonic stern cell lines （SYSU-1 and SYSU-2） were established from surplus embryos. The two lines express several pluripotency markers including alkaline phosphatase, SSEA- 4, Tra-1-60, Oct-4, Nanog and Rex-1. They remain in undifferentiated state with normal karyotype after prolonged passages and can form embryoid bodies in vitro and teratoma in vivo. Conclusion Two new human embryonic stem cell lines have been established from surplus embryos. They can be used to understand selfrenewal and differentiating mechanisms and provide more choices for regenerative medicine.