Research Department, Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, 799 East Hampden Ave, Suite 520, Englewood, CO 80110, USA
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Abstract |
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Key words: antioxidant/blastocyst/metabolism/slow freezing/vitrification
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Introduction |
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Cells contain antioxidants such as glutathione and superoxide dismutase to protect against the production of oxygen radicals. However, it has been shown in sperm that the levels of these antioxidants are reduced by >50% following cryopreservation (Bilodeau et al., 2000). It has previously been demonstrated that the addition of antioxidant solutions to the in-vitro culture systems for embryos stimulates development (Nasr-Esfahani et al., 1990a
; Noda et al., 1991
; Nonogaki et al., 1991
; Goto et al., 1992
; Nasr-Esfahani et al., 1992
; Payne et al., 1992
; Umaoka et al., 1992
; Orsi and Leese, 2001
) and also results in a significantly improved ability of the embryos to subsequently survive cryopreservation (Tarin and Trounson, 1993
). However, it is plausible that inclusion of an antioxidant in the cryopreservation solutions themselves may help in maintaining embryo viability after cryopreservation by reducing the effects of harmful oxygen radicals during the cryopreservation procedure itself. One antioxidant, ascorbate, is a very potent hydrophilic antioxidant that is able to scavenge hydrogen peroxide, superoxide anions, hydroxyl free radicals and singlet oxygens (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 1989
; Meister, 1992
). Additionally, ascorbate is found in follicular fluid (Paszkowski and Clarke, 1999
), indicating that it may have a physiological role as an antioxidant in oocyte and embryo development. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of the addition of ascorbate to cryopreservation solutions on the survival, intracellular peroxide levels and physiology of mouse 2-cell embryos and blastocysts. The effects of ascorbate were examined in traditional slow-freezing procedures and also during ultra-rapid vitrification to determine the potential benefits in both cryopreservation systems.
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Materials and methods |
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Embryo collection
Embryos were collected from 4 week old F1 female mice (C57Bl/6xCBA). Multiple ovulations were induced by an i.p. injection of 5 IU pregnant mares serum gonadotrophin (Sigma Chemical Co.) followed 48 h later by 5 IU of hCG (Pregnyl; Organon Inc., West Orange, NJ, USA). After the second injection, females were placed with males of the same strain. Zygotes were collected at 21 h post-hCG in MOPSG1 and denuded by incubation with hyaluronidase [0.5 mg/ml (Sigma Chemical Co.), bovine testes, type IV] for <1 min. Zygotes were washed twice in MOPSG1 and once in medium G1.2 before placement in culture.
In-vivo developed 2-cell embryos were collected at 46 h post-hCG injection by flushing oviducts with MOPSG1.
Embryo culture
Embryos were cultured in groups of 10 in 20 µl drops of medium under paraffin oil (BDH) (Lane and Gardner, 1992). All embryos were cultured in medium G1.2 at 37°C in 6% CO2/5% O2/89% N2. At the 2-cell stage, embryos were allocated to one of the cryopreservation protocols. The remaining embryos were cultured for a further 24 h in medium G1.2. Following warming/thawing, 2-cell embryos were cultured for a further 24 h to the 48-cell stage. After a total of 48 h of culture in G1.2, all embryos were washed twice in medium G2.2 and then cultured in G2.2 for a further 48 h to the blastocyst stage.
Slow-freezing procedure for 2-cell embryos
A published slow-freezing procedure was used (Emiliani et al., 2000). All freezing and thawing procedures were performed at room temperature. For freezing, 2-cell stage embryos were first exposed to 0.75 mol/l propanediol (Sigma Chemical Co.) in medium MOPSG1 for 10 min, then to 1.5 mol/l propanediol for 10 min, and finally MOPSG1 containing 1.5 mol/l propanediol and 0.1 mol/l sucrose (Sigma Chemical Co.) for 7 min. Between 15 and 20 2-cell embryos were loaded into 0.25 ml straws (Institute Medicine Vetinaire, Bicef, LAigle, France) and placed into the freezing machine (Freeze Control CL2000; CryoLogic, Napa, CA, USA). Embryos were cooled as follows: placed in the freezing machine at 20°C, cooled at 1.0°C/min to 6°C, manually seed at 6°C, held at 6°C for 10 min, and then cooled at 0.3°C/min to 37°C, before being plunged into liquid nitrogen. Embryos were stored in liquid nitrogen between 1 week and 2 months.
For thawing, straws were held in air for 15 s and then plunged into a 30°C water bath for 30 s. Two-cell stage embryos were thawed in a four-step procedure to remove the cryoprotectants as follows: 10 min in 1.5 mol/l propanediol and 0.2 mol/l sucrose, 10 min in 0.75 mol/l propanediol and 0.2 mol/l sucrose, 10 min in 0.2 mol/l sucrose and 10 min in MOPSG1. Finally, the 2-cell embryos were washed in MOPSG1 at 37°C for 10 min and placed into culture.
Slow-freezing procedure for blastocysts
Blastocyst freezing and thawing procedures were performed at room temperature. The base medium for blastocyst freezing was a MOPS-buffered version of G2.2 without essential amino acids and vitamins (MOPSG2). For freezing, blastocysts were placed initially in MOPSG2 with 5% glycerol and 0.1 mol/l sucrose for 10 min followed by a 7 min incubation in MOPSG2 with 10% glycerol and 0.2 mol/l sucrose. Ten blastocysts were then loaded into a 0.25 ml straw (Institute Medicine Vetinaire) and placed into the freezing machine (Freeze Control CL2000) at 6°C. After 2 min the straws were manually seeded and then were held at 6°C for a further 10 min. Blastocysts were then cooled at 0.5°C/min to 32°C, before being plunged into liquid nitrogen. Embryos were stored in liquid nitrogen between 1 week and 2 months.
For thawing, straws were removed from the liquid nitrogen and air-thawed for 10 s. Straws were then placed into a 30°C water bath for 30 s. Blastocysts were expelled from the straw into MOPSG2 containing 10% glycerol and 0.2 mol/l sucrose. Blastocysts were then transferred to MOPSG2 containing 5% glycerol and 0.1 mol/l sucrose for 5 min, then incubated in MOPSG2 with 0.1 mol/l sucrose for a further 5 min followed by a 5 min incubation in MOPSG2. Blastocysts were then incubated in MOPSG2 at 37°C for 5 min before being placed into culture.
Vitrification of 2-cell and blastocysts
All vitrification and warming procedures were performed at 37°C. For vitrification, embryos were vitrified in a two-step loading with cryoprotectants dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) and ethylene glycol (Lane and Gardner, 2001a). First, embryos were placed in cryoprotectant solution MOPSG1 containing 8% DMSO and 8% ethylene glycol for 1 min for 2 cells and 1:45 min for blastocysts. Embryos at both stages were then transferred into medium MOPSG1 containing 16% DMSO, 16% ethylene glycol, 10 mg/ml Ficoll and 0.65 mol/l sucrose for
20 s. Embryos were transferred to a nylon loop that had previously been dipped into the second vitrification solution to create a thin film, and plunged directly into a cryovial containing liquid nitrogen (Lane et al., 1999a
,b
). The vials were stored on standard canes. Embryos were stored in liquid nitrogen between 1 week and 2 months.
For warming, embryos were warmed in a two-step dilution with sucrose. The loop was removed from the vial under liquid nitrogen and placed directly into a well of MOPSG2 containing 0.25 mol/l sucrose. The embryos fell off the loop and after 2 min in this solution were moved to MOPSG2 containing 0.125 mol/l sucrose for 3 min. Finally, the embryos were washed in medium MOPSG1 for 5 min and placed into culture.
Allocation of cells to the inner cell mass and trophectoderm
Allocation of cells in blastocysts to the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) was assessed using a published technique (Hardy et al., 1989) as modified and described previously (Gardner et al., 2000
).
Pyruvate metabolism
Tricarboxylic acid cycle activity by individual embryos was assessed by incubation with radiolabelled [2-14C]pyruvate (0.002 µCi/µl, 0.32 mmol/l; New England Nuclear, Beverly, MA, USA). Individual embryos were placed in 3 µl drops of medium G1.2 containing labelled pyruvate on the lid of a microcentrifuge vial (Rieger et al., 1992; Lane and Gardner, 2001b
). The lid was replaced onto the vial containing 1.5 ml of NaHCO3 equilibrated at 6% CO2/5% O2/89% N2 and the gas phase filled with 6% CO2/5% O2/89% N2. Embryos were incubated for 3 h at 37°C. Sham preparations containing the medium with the radiolabelled substrate, but without an embryo, were included to account for background counts and non-specific breakdown of the label. To enable quantification, 3 µl drops of medium were added directly to the 1.5 ml of NaHCO3 to obtain total counts. At the end of the 3 h incubation, 1.0 ml of the NaHCO3 was added to a scintillation vial containing 200 µl of 1 mol/l NaOH and kept at 4°C overnight. The following morning, 10 ml of scintillation fluid was added and the vials vortexed and counted in a liquid scintillation counter. Embryo metabolism was calculated based on the recovery efficiencies of the radiolabelled substrates as previously described (Rieger et al., 1992
) and expressed as pmol/embryo/h.
Hydrogen peroxide
Levels of hydrogen peroxide in embryos were measured using a published procedure (Nasr-Esfahani et al., 1990b). Two-cell embryos were stained with either 2.0x10-5 mol/l 6-carboxy-2',7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate, di(acetoxymethyl ester) (CDCFDA) or 5-(and-6)-carboxy-2',7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) for 30 min to measure esterase and hydrogen peroxide levels respectively. As the levels of fluorescence of the dye detecting hydrogen peroxide is dependent on esterase activity, the ratio of hydrogen peroxide to esterase activity is a more accurate measure of relative levels of hydrogen peroxide in embryos. However, as these two parameters cannot be detected on the same embryo, a single ratio of an average of all embryos is presented. After loading of the dyes, embryos were washed in MOPSG1 and immediately placed in a 2 µl drop of MOPSG1 and the fluorescence determined. All readings occurred within 5 min of removal from the dye. Fluorescence of the dyes was quantified using a microfluorimeter with photometer attachments controlled by an optical switch (Solamere Technology Group, Salt Lake City, UT, USA). Embryos exposed to UV light for 30 min were used as positive controls for measuring levels of hydrogen peroxide. The levels of hydrogen peroxide were expressed as a percentage of in-vivo developed embryos.
Assessment of ICM and TE outgrowth
Blastocyst outgrowth was assessed as a measure of viability. Zygotes were cultured to the blastocyst stage in media G1.2/G2.2 and then cryopreserved by either slow freezing or vitrification in solutions either lacking ascorbate or containing 0.1 mmol/l ascorbate. Following thawing/warming, blastocysts were placed in 200 µl of medium Tissue Culture Medium-199 with 10% fetal calf serum (Hyclone, Logan, UT, USA) in gelatin-coated 96-well plates. Blastocysts were cultured at 37°C in 6% CO2/5% O2/89% N2 for 72 h. After 24 h, blastocyst hatching and attachment was assessed and after 72 h outgrowth of the ICM and TE assessed on a scale of 03 where 0 represents no growth and 3 represents extensive growth (Spindle and Pedersen, 1973).
Assessment of glucose uptakes by individual blastocysts
Glucose uptakes by individual blastocysts was assessed by an ultramicrofluorescence assay as previously described (Gardner and Leese, 1990, 1999
). Using this procedure, concentrations of substrates in the femtomole range can be accurately measured in nanolitre volumes (Gardner and Leese, 1999
). Blastocysts were incubated in 40 nl drops of medium G2.2 modified to contain 0.5 mmol/l glucose compared with 3.15 mmol/l in the original formulation. Embryos were incubated at 37°C in 6% CO2/5% O2/89% N2 for 3 h after thawing/warming. At the end of the incubation, blastocysts were removed from the drops and the media were frozen for subsequent analysis.
Glucose levels in the medium was assessed using a miniaturization of fluorometric assays. Assays were performed in 30 nl drops of reagent cocktail with 3 nl samples of medium. Fluorescence from the production of the pyridine nucleotide NADPH was detected using a microfluorimeter with photometer attachments controlled by an optical switch (Solamere Technology Group, Salt Lake City, UT, USA). Fluorescence was calibrated by a glucose standard curve run daily with each set of samples.
Determination of lactate dehydrogenase activity
Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was determined using quantitative microfluorescence based on the following reaction:
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The composition of the reaction buffer was 50 mmol/l K2HPO4, 0.8 mmol/l KH2PO4, 0.63 mmol/l pyruvate, 0.116 mmol/l NaHCO3 and 0.057 mmol/l NADH. Reactions were performed at 37°C and all reagents were at the concentrations required for measurement of maximal activity (Martin et al., 1993; Lane and Gardner, 2000
).
For the assay, a 50 nl drop of the reagents was placed on a siliconized slide, warmed to 37°C and its fluorescence quantified in the presence of UV light. A 15 nl drop of sample was warmed to 37°C and then added to the reagent drop. The change in fluorescence was assessed continuously for 5 min. The change in fluorescence was calculated from a NADH standard curve run each day. A control drop of cocktail without sample was warmed to 37°C and the fluorescence determined to establish the amount of photo-oxidation of NADH by exposure to UV light. A further control drop of sample and reagents in the absence of substrate (pyruvate) was also performed to control for non-specific oxidation. The activity of the enzyme was then calculated from the gradient and has been expressed as pmol NADH oxidized/embryo/h.
Statistics
Data for embryo morphology were analysed using linear logistic regression using the Software package GLIM. Data for embryo metabolism, cell numbers, outgrowth, LDH activity and hydrogen peroxide levels were assessed by ANOVA. No between-replicate differences were detected and data from all experiments were subsequently pooled for analysis. Between-treatment differences were determined using Bonferronis multiple comparison procedures. P < 0.05 was considered significant.
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Results |
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Effect of ascorbate in cryopreservation solutions on blastocyst survival and development
Following thawing/warming in the presence or absence of 0.1 mmol/l ascorbate, blastocyst re-expansion, attachment and outgrowth of the ICM and TE were determined. Addition of 0.1 mmol/l ascorbate to the media for slow freezing significantly increased blastocyst re-expansion and attachment compared with embryos frozen in the absence of ascorbate (P < 0.05; Table IV). The addition of ascorbate did not affect blastocyst re-expansion or attachment when blastocysts were vitrified. Addition of ascorbate to the slow-freezing solutions for blastocysts resulted in a significant increase in the levels of both ICM and TE outgrowth compared with blastocysts cryopreserved in the absence of ascorbate (P < 0.05). Addition of ascorbate to the vitrification solutions also stimulated ICM outgrowth, but TE outgrowth was not affected (Table IV
).
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Discussion |
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Cryopreservation of mouse 2-cell embryos by slow freezing significantly increased the levels of hydrogen peroxide in the blastomeres immediately after thawing. This increase in hydrogen peroxide levels is indicative of an increase in the levels of free oxygen radicals in these embryos. Addition of ascorbate to the cryopreservation solutions resulted in a significant reduction in the levels of hydrogen peroxide. This decrease in levels of hydrogen peroxide was correlated with increased developmental competence and an increased maintenance of normal embryo physiology. Increased levels of hydrogen peroxide in the embryos are significant as reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide can damage cells by enabling the formation of very damaging hydroxyl radials via the Fenton and HaberWeiss reactions. This formation of hydroxyl radicals can be accelerated by the presence of metal ions such as iron or copper (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 1989). Several studies have demonstrated a beneficial effect of adding either antioxidants or metal ion chelators such as EDTA to culture media for mammalian embryos (Nasr-Esfahani et al., 1990a
, 1992
; Noda et al., 1991
; Nonogaki et al., 1991
; Goto et al., 1992
; Payne et al., 1992
; Umaoka et al., 1992
; Gardner and Lane, 1996
; Orsi and Leese, 2001
) indicating that reactive oxygen species such as the hydroxyl radicals are very damaging to embryos. Even a transient rise in the levels of hydrogen peroxide has detrimental effects on embryo development in culture (Nasr-Esfahani et al., 1990b
). Ascorbate has also been shown to reduce the production of reactive oxygen species in sperm (Donnelly et al., 1999
). It is clear from the data presented in our study that the presence of ascorbate during the cryopreservation procedure had a significant beneficial effect on subsequent embryo development.
The levels of hydrogen peroxide observed were significantly lower in the mouse embryos that were vitrified compared with those that were cryopreserved by slow freezing. It therefore appears that the slow-freezing procedure results in the production of significantly more hydrogen peroxide than the ultra-rapid vitrification procedure used. The levels of esterase activity in the embryos cryopreserved using the slow-freezing procedure were also significantly reduced compared with those embryos that were vitrified. This suggests that the slow-frozen embryos were metabolically impaired compared with those that were vitrified. These differences may in part explain previous observations that the ultra-rapid vitrification procedure is more successful than the slow-freezing procedures for the cryopreservation of embryos (Lane and Gardner, 2001b).
Interestingly, the addition of ascorbate to the cryopreservation solutions for 2-cell mouse embryos resulted in blastocysts with significantly increased development of the ICM compared with embryos cryopreserved in the absence of ascorbate. Similarly, ascorbate in the freezing solutions for blastocysts also significantly increased the rates of ICM outgrowth. It therefore appears that the ICM is particularly sensitive to the production and presence of hydrogen peroxide. Cryopreservation of bovine blastocysts is known to result in an increased death of ICM cells (Iwasaki et al., 1994) and reduced rates of proliferation of ICM cells following cryopreservation (Takagi et al., 1996
). Furthermore, culture of embryos from several species in elevated levels of oxygen (
20%) results in blastocysts with significantly reduced numbers of ICM cells compared with embryos grown in low (5%) physiological levels of oxygen (Gardner et al., 1999
; Lim et al., 1999
). This reduction in the development of the ICM is probably due to the increased production of oxygen radicals resulting from the high levels of oxygen. The data presented in this study indicate that the elevated levels of oxygen radicals may persist for some time following the cryopreservation procedure, affecting the later development of the ICM.
In our study, the detrimental effect of cryopreservation on ICM development was significantly greater when embryos were slow-frozen compared with vitrification. This is in contrast to the results of Kaidi et al. who found no difference in the survival of the ICM between slow freezing and vitrification for bovine blastocysts (Kaidi et al., 2001). However, similar to our results, these authors did observe a significant decrease in glucose uptakes by bovine blastocysts after slow freezing compared with vitrification (Kaidi et al., 2001
). The differences in the sensitivity of the ICM following vitrification between the two studies may be explained in part by the different vitrification procedures used. In our study, we used an ultra-rapid vitrification using the cryoloop, whereas Kaidi et al. (2001) used a traditional vitrification procedure with a straw. Ultra-rapid vitrification procedures have reported superior results compared with more traditional vitrification procedures due to significant increases in the cooling rates which reduce the toxicity of the cryoprotectants (Vajta et al., 1998
; Lane et al., 1999a
,b
; Chen et al., 2001
; Nowshari and Brem, 2001
). Alternatively, there may be species differences between the sensitivity of the ICM between mice and cows to cryopreservation.
In addition to the formation of the hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide can combine with other molecules to form alkoxyl and peroxyl radicals (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 1989). These oxygen species damage lipids in the cell membranes and also in the organelle membranes within a cell. In this study, determining the levels of leakage of the cytoplasmic enzyme LDH indirectly assessed damage to the cell membrane. The levels of LDH leakage from bovine embryos have previously been used to assess the viability of bovine embryos (Johnson et al., 1991
). In normal healthy cells this enzyme does not cross the membrane and in this study LDH could not be detected in control embryos that were not cryopreserved. However, 2-cell mouse embryos that were cryopreserved by slow freezing had significant levels of LDH leakage, indicating an increase in the permeability of the cell membrane. The addition of ascorbate during cryopreservation reduced the amount of LDH leakage, indicating that a significant proportion of the damage to the membrane resulted from the damage due to oxygen radicals. Interestingly, the levels of LDH leakage were significantly reduced following vitrification compared with slow freezing. Therefore, it appears that the ultra-rapid vitrification procedure used in this study causes substantially less damage to the cell membrane.
Pyruvate oxidation was also reduced in embryos that were cryopreserved by slow freezing. The oxidation of pyruvate is a major energy-generating pathway of the early embryo (Leese, 1991). Oxidative phosphorylation of pyruvate relies upon transfer of pyruvate across the inner mitochondrial membrane by a specific carrier (Newsholme and Leech, 1985
). Oxygen radicals can disrupt the function of the organelle membranes such as those of the mitochondria, resulting in a disruption in normal oxidative metabolism. This may be the case for the 2-cell embryos that were cryopreserved using the slow-freezing procedure, as the addition of ascorbate increased the rates of pyruvate oxidation.
Although the higher concentration of ascorbate used (0.5 mmol/l) would have been expected to act as an equivalent or better antioxidant compared with 0.1 mmol/l, the beneficial effects on embryo development were either significantly reduced or not evident. The concentration of ascorbate found in bodily fluids is reported to be between 30 and 150 µmol/l (Halliwell and Gutteridge, 1989; Seis et al., 1992
) and the amount in follicular fluid has been reported to be 1/68th of the serum concentration (Paszkowski and Clarke, 1999
). Therefore, it is plausible that the concentration of 500 µmol/l used in this study, which is significantly elevated compared with the physiological levels, resulted in a detrimental effect on embryo development. The mechanism for this inhibition is unknown; however, it has been demonstrated that ascorbate can modulate phosphorylationdephosphorylation events in cultured cell lines (Monteiro et al., 1993
).
In conclusion, the data presented in this study demonstrate that the inclusion of 0.1 mmol/l ascorbate for the cryopreservation of both mouse cleavage stage and blastocyst stage embryos is beneficial for subsequent embryo development. Therefore, it may be beneficial to include 0.1 mmol/l ascorbate in all solutions for the cryopreservation of embryos whether the procedure of choice is slow freezing or vitrification.
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Acknowledgements |
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Notes |
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References |
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Submitted on April 2, 2002; accepted on May 30, 2002.