Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells’ Paracrine Factors in Conditioned Medium Can Enhance Porcine Oocyte Maturation and Subsequent Embryo Development

• Main Author: Seok Hee Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: conditioned medium; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; growth factors; human adipose-derived stem cells; oocyte development
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/2/579
• ISSN: 1661-6596; 1422-0067

An essential requirement for the success of in vitro maturation (IVM) of the oocyte is to provide an optimal microenvironment similar to in vivo conditions. Recently, somatic cell-based coculture or supplementation of a conditioned medium during IVM has been performed to obtain better quality of oocytes, because they mimic the in vivo reproductive tract by secreting paracrine factors. In this study, human adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) and their conditioned medium (ASC-CM) were applied to IVM of porcine oocytes to evaluate the effectiveness of ASC on oocyte development and subsequent embryo development. In results, both ASC and ASC-CM positively influence on oocyte maturation and embryo development by regulating growth factor receptors (<i>VEGF</i>, <i>FGFR</i>, and <i>IGFR</i>), apoptosis (<i>BCL2</i>), cumulus expansion (<i>PTGS2</i>, <i>HAS2</i>, and <i>TNFAIP6</i>), and oocyte maturation-related genes (<i>GDF9</i> and <i>BMP15</i>). In particular, the fluorescence intensity of GDF9 and BMP15 was markedly upregulated in the oocytes from the ASC-CM group. Furthermore, significantly high levels of growth factors/cytokine including VEGF, bFGF, IGF-1, IL-10, and EGF were observed in ASC-CM. Additionally, the ASC-CM showed active scavenging activity by reducing the ROS production in a culture medium. Consequently, for the first time, this study demonstrated the effect of human ASC-CM on porcine oocyte development and the alteration of mRNA transcript levels in cumulus–oocyte complexes.