Abstract
The objective of this experiment was to examine the effect of co-culture with epithelial cells on development of porcine IVF embryos. Monolayers of epithelial cells for the co-culture were prepared from porcine oviducts or uteri. The developmental rates to the blastocysts stage were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the embryos co-cultured with epithelial cells from oviducts (16.9%) than in the embryos cultured without epithelial cells (control; 6.6%). However, the developmental rates to the blastocysts stage were not significantly higher (P<0.05) in the embryos co-cultured with epithelial cells from uteri (9.2%) than the control. The effects of ampulla, isthmus and utero-tubal junction on development of porcine IVF embryos were examined. The developmental rates to the blastocysts stage were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the embryos co-cultured with epithelial cells from ampulla (15.3%) and isthmus (15.3%) than in the embryos co-cultured with epithelial cells from utero-tubal junction (9.9%) and control (6.7%). These results suggest that the co-culture system with oviductal epithelial cells supports the development of porcine IVF embryos to blastocysts in vitro.
