Gene expression analysis of in vivo originated bovine embryos fllushed out at 2- or 8-cell stages and cultured in vitro till blastocyst stage

There is an inevitable need for combining in vitro and in vivo culture systems during specific developmental time points to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of early embryo development which would yield insights into the molecular pathways controlling early development and to improve our knowledge in regulation of embryonic development. In current study, we aimed to understand the influences of in vitro culture conditions on bovine blastocyst originated in vivo at 2- or 8-cell stagre. The effect of this altrnative cuture conditions on developmental rate, gene expression pattern and subsequent influences on pathways and biological functions controlling bovine embryo development has been analyzed. Two different blastocyst groups were produced under alternative in vivo and in vitro culture conditions. Vivo_2-cell and Vivo_8-cell groups were matured, fertilized and cultured in vivo until 2- and 8-cell stage, respectively then flushed out and cultured in vitro until day 7 blastocyst stage. Complete in vivo (control group) blastocysts were also produced. Samples from the three pools (biological replicates) of each blastocyst group and in vivo control blastocyst were hybridized on EmbryoGENE’s bovine microarray using a dye-swap design (technical replicates) for a total of six arrays per each group.