Effects of human recombinant granulocyte-colony stimulating factor treatment during in vitro culture on porcine pre-implantation embryos

PLoS One. 2020 Mar 17;15(3):e0230247. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230247. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), a pleiotropic cytokine, belongs to the hematopoietic growth factor family. Recent studies have reported that G-CSF is a predictive biomarker of oocyte and embryo developmental competence in humans. The aim of our study was to determine whether CSF3 and its receptor (CSF3R) were expressed in porcine maternal reproductive tissues (oviduct and uterus), cumulus cells, and embryos and to investigate the effects of human recombinant G-CSF (hrG-CSF) supplementation during in vitro culture (IVC) on the developmental competence of pre-implantation embryos. To do this, we first performed reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Second, we performed parthenogenetic activation (PA), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) to evaluate the embryonic developmental potential after hrG-CSF supplementation based on various concentrations (0 ng/mL, 10 ng/mL, 50 ng/mL, and 100 ng/mL) and durations (Un-treated, Days 0-3, Days 4-7, and Days 0-7) of IVC. Finally, we examined transcriptional levels of several marker genes in blastocysts. The results of our study showed that CSF3 transcript was present in all samples we assessed. CSF3-R was also detected, except in cumulus cells and blastocysts from PA. Furthermore, 10 ng/mL and Days 0-7 were the optimal concentration and duration for the viability of in vitro embryonic development, especially for SCNT-derived embryos. The rate of blastocyst formation and the total cell number of blastocysts were significantly enhanced, while the number and index of apoptotic nuclei were significantly decreased in optimal condition groups compared to others. Moreover, the transcriptional levels of anti-apoptotis- (BCL2), proliferation- (PCNA), and pluripotency- (POU5F1) related genes were dramatically upregulated. In conclusion, for the first time, we demonstrated that CSF3 and CSF3R were expressed in porcine reproductive organs, cells, and embryos. Additionally, we determined that hrG-CSF treatment improved porcine embryonic development capacity in vitro.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Blastocyst / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cumulus Cells / drug effects
  • Embryo Culture Techniques / methods
  • Embryonic Development / drug effects*
  • Female
  • Fertilization in Vitro / methods
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / drug effects
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Nuclear Transfer Techniques
  • Oocytes / drug effects
  • Pregnancy
  • Recombinant Proteins / pharmacology*
  • Swine

Substances

  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor

Grants and funding

* Initials of the authors: SHH & WSH * Grant numbers: "318016-5", "819029-2" "2017K1A4A3014959" * The full name of each funder: “Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)”, “Ministry of Education, Science and Technology”, * Website of funder: www.mafra.go.kr, www.moe.go.kr * This work was supported, in part, by a grant from the “Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (IPET) through Agri-Bio industry Technology Development Program (grant number: 318016-5) and Agri-food R&D Performance Follow-up Support Program (grant number: 819029-2), funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)” and “The Global Research and Development Center (GRDC) Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2017K1A4A3014959)”, Republic of Korea. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.