Transactions of the Materials Research Society of Japan
Online ISSN : 2188-1650
Print ISSN : 1382-3469
ISSN-L : 1382-3469
Measurement of the Respiratory Activity of Single Human Embryos by Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy
Hiroyuki AbeMasaki YokooTakahiro Itoh-SasakiMegumi NasuKaori GotoYoko KumasakoYasuhisa ArakiHitoshi ShikuTomokazu MatsueTakafumi Utsunomiya
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JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS

2008 Volume 33 Issue 3 Pages 759-762

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Abstract

Respiration is useful parameter for evaluating embryo quality as it provides important information about metabolic activity. In the present study, we employed scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) to accurately determine the oxygen consumption of single, identical human embryos at different developmental stages. The oxygen consumption rates of single embryos were low at 2-8-cell stages (0.51 ±0.05 X 1014/mol • s-1, n=l8) but increased by the morula (0.61 ±0.11 X 1014 /mol· s-1, n=5) and early blastocyst(0.72±0.06 X 1014/mol • s-1, n=14) stages. Later blastocysts exhibited even higher oxygen consumption rates (1.00±0.19 X 1014/mol • s-1 n=4). Ultrastructural studies revealed that most mitochondria in embryos up to the 8-cell stage were immature and had a spherical or ovoid shape. However, by the morula stage, the mitochondria had elongated cristae, with the elongated morphology even more pronounced in mitochondria present in blastocysts. The maturation of mitochondria correlated with the increase of oxygen consumption rate during the development of embryos. The SECM technique may be a valuable tool for accurately assessing the mitochondrial function and quality of human embryos.

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© 2008 The Materials Research Society of Japan
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