Abstract
In the present study, preimplantation development of chimeric mouse embryos cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) was examined by using 4 to 16-cell stage aggregated embryos. Three types of embryos, embryos with intact zona, zona-free embryos and aggregated chimeric embryos (BALB/c⇔C57BL/6J), were cultured for 60 h in vitro. Aggregated embryos, 4-cell⇔4-cell, 8-cell⇔8-cell and 16-cell⇔16cell developed into an integrated blastocyst at percentages of 82.2, 89.1 and 84.7, respectively. Development of chimeric embryos into morula was delayed about 12 h more than that of intact embryos, but high rates of developmental of chimeric embryos from morula into blastocyst were obtained. These results suggested that DMEM was suitable for the in vitro culture of chimeric mouse embryos.
