K. Turner et al., EFFECT OF CULTURE IN-VITRO AND ORGAN-CULTURE ON THE DRY MASS OF PREIMPLANTATION MOUSE EMBRYOS, Reproduction, fertility and development, 6(2), 1994, pp. 229-234
The dry mass of mouse embryos cultured in vitro in medium alone or in
an organ culture system were measured by means of the Vickers M86 scan
ning microinterferometer. The data were compared with previous data on
the dry mass of preimplantation embryos in vivo. The metabolism of em
bryos cultured in vitro differs from that of fresh embryos. In culture
d embryos, dry mass decreases throughout the 2-cell stage whereas the
dry mass is increasing at this stage in vivo. Embryos in an organ cult
ure system regain a dry mass profile, similar to that observed in vivo
at the late cleavage stage. These results support the view that condi
tions for embryo metabolism are suboptimal in vitro and that, although
the oviduct may confer some advantage on developing embryos in vitro,
it is unable fully to support the pattern of metabolism, as assessed
by dry mass, observed in vivo.