Impact of alpha-L-fucosidase on in vitro fertilization during bovine embryo production

• Grant number: 19/12223-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2019
• End date: April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: Anthony César de Souza Castilho
• Grantee: Thainá Sallum Bacco Manssur
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação. Universidade do Oeste Paulista (UNOESTE). Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The embryo in vitro production (IVP) has become an important strategy to increase the reproduction and intensify the development of animals genetically superior, however the in vitro process of embryo production also presents limitations of qualitative and quantitative efficacy. The objective of this study is to test the effect of addition of a glycoprotein naturally found in the bovine oviduct in the process of in vitro fertilization during the IVP to increase the quantity and quality of embryo production. The glycoprotein that will be tested is the ±-L-fucosidase, a glycosidase found in the oviduct fluid, related to be involved in the hydrolytic degradation of the fucose and to participates in the interaction of sperm-oocyte by the activity on glycans in the zona pellucida, beyond to act in the control of polyspermia by the alteration in the proteins of zona pellucida. For this, bovine cumulus-oocytes complexes (COC) will be obtained of the ovaries from slaughterhouse, and submitted to the process of embry IVP. The COC in vitro matured will be incubated for one hour with four different concentrations of ±-L-fucosidase (zero, 0.0625, 0.125 and 0.25 UI/mL) previously to the in vitro fertilization. After the in vitro fertilization, the probable zygotes will be submitted to the in vitro cultive for eight days until the blastocyst formation. The embryo quality will be evaluated by analyses of genes related to pluripotency, differentiation, implantation, and embryo development. Based on this, the hypothesis of this study is that the addition of ±-L-fucosidase during the in vitro production alters the zona pellucida of the oocyte and the interaction of gametes during in vitro process increasing the efficiency and quality of embryo production.