Sj. Rzucidlo et Bg. Brackett, Developmental patterns of zygotes from transgenic female mice with elevated tissue glutathione, J EXP ZOOL, 286(2), 2000, pp. 173-180
Zygotes were collected from transgenic mice overexpressing glutathione synt
hetase to test the hypothesis that such zygotes are more capable of develop
ing in suboptimal culture media than zygotes from non-transgenic (control)
mice. The effects of injection of donor mice with gamma-glutamylcysteinyl e
thyl ester (gamma-GCE) on embryonic development were also investigated. In
addition, the effects of genetic background (i.e., transgenic vs. non-trans
genic) and injection with gamma-GCE on developmental capacity in kSOM were
studied after exposure of zygotes to diamide (0.01 mM, for 30 min). When cu
ltured in modified Medium 16 significantly more pronuclear ova from transge
nic females reached the morula (M) and early blastocyst (EB) stages than em
bryos derived from control mice. Genetic background significantly affected
the proportions of embryos reaching 4- to 16-cell, NI and EB stages during
culture in modified Whitten's medium (WM); more zygotes collected from tran
sgenic than from control mice developed. The injection of experimental mice
with I-GCE significantly increased proportions of zygotes developing to M
and EB stages in WM. Following exposure to diamide and subsequent culture i
n kSOM significantly more zygotes collected from transgenic mice reached th
e 4- to 16-cell stages than those from control females; a significant posit
ive effect on developmental capacity was also seen after injection of donor
mice with gamma-GCE. When cultured in suboptimal conditions, zygotes deriv
ed from transgenic mice overexpressing glutathione synthetase were more cap
able of developing than zygotes of nontransgenic control females. Zygotes f
rom the transgenic mice also exhibited greater capacity to withstand toxic
exposure to diamide. Present data suggest that commonly known strain differ
ences in preimplantational development in vitro may reflect differences in
the synthesis and/or metabolism of glutathione. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.