The present study investigated whether supplementation with different doses of cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CeO2 NPs) during in vitro maturation (IVM) of prepubertal ovine oocytes influenced their embryonic development in vitro. Cumulus-oocyte complexes derived from the ovaries of slaughtered prepubertal sheep underwent IVM with CeO2NPs (0, 44, 88 or 220µg mL-1). Matured oocytes were fertilise...

Polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) are essential for placental growth and angiogenesis. However, little is known about changes in polyamine synthesis associated with development of the ovine conceptus (embryo/fetus and associated placental membranes). We hypothesized that rates of placental polyamine synthesis were maximal during the rapid placental growth that occurs in the firs...

Embryonic diapause (ED) is a temporary arrest of embryo development and is characterized by delayed implantation in the uterus. ED occurs in blastocysts of less than 2% of mammalian species, including the mouse (Mus musculus). If ED were an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon, then it should be inducible in blastocysts of normally non-diapausing mammals, such as domestic species. To prove this ...

BACKGROUND The growing awareness of transfusion-associated morbidity and mortality necessitates investigations into the underlying mechanisms. Small animals have been the dominant transfusion model but have associated limitations. This study aimed to develop a comprehensive large animal (ovine) model of transfusion encompassing: blood collection, processing and storage, compatibility testing ri...

The mammalian oviduct has long been recognized as an organ essential to the success of reproduction. Bovine, ovine, porcine and equine animal models have offered clear advantages for oviduct study related to gamete physiology, fertilization and early embryo development. Livestock species are amenable to surgical alteration of the reproductive tract, estrous cycle manipulation, gamete cryopreser...

The efficiency to produce offspring by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is low. It has been showed that treatment of donor cells with Xenopus oocyte extract increased live births in ovine and handmade cloned embryo development in pigs. Scriptaid treatment after oocyte activation is another approach to improve SCNT efficiency. The present study was carried out to investigate (a) the effects ...

Background: Recent studies have revealed that oocyte competence can be assessed through the presence of the glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) enzyme, as indicated by brilliant cresyl blue (BCB), a dye that can be degraded by G6PDH. In the present study, we aimed to examine the validity of BCB test to select developmentally competent oocyte in ovine and its association with stage-specifi...

Drosophila have emerged as a model system to study mammalian neurodegenerative diseases. In the present study we have generated Drosophila transgenic for ovine PrP (prion protein) to begin to establish an invertebrate model of ovine prion disease. We generated Drosophila transgenic for polymorphic variants of ovine PrP by PhiC31 site-specific germ-line transformation under expression control by...

background: ammonium is produced in culture medium due to amino acids degradation and has adverse effect on in vitro culture of embryo. in the current study, the purpose was to evaluate the effects of ammuniom chloride (ac) on in vitro oocyte maturation rate and early embryo development in the sheep and its effect on the expression of bcl-2. methods: in vitro maturation (ivm) was performed in t...