Preconception Paternal Alcohol Exposure Decreases IVF Embryo Survival and Pregnancy Success Rates in a Mouse Model

In this study, we describe the use of high-throughput sequencing to investigate the developmental basis of preimplantation embryos sired by alcohol-exposed males through in vitro fertilization (IVF). We exposed C57BL/6J male mice to one of three treatment groups. Sexually mature males were randomly selected to voluntarily consume 0% ethanol (control), 6% ethanol, or 10% ethanol for ten weeks. After treatment, the males were sacrificed for sperm collection and cryopreservation for IVF procedures. C57BL/6J donor females remained naïve to alcohol and were synchronized and superovulated before being sacrificed for oocyte collection. Oocytes underwent IVF with the cryopreserved semen and incubated until they reached the morula stage. The morulae sired by ethanol-exposed sperm exhibited altered transcriptional signatures compared to the control-sired morulae. Quick Biology Inc. sequencing core isolated total RNA from three pools (10-15 cells) of unsexed morulae from each control and ethanol preconception treatment. After obtaining the sequencing data, we conducted deep-sequencing analyses of the morulae transcriptomes. This experiment revealed sire alcohol consumption modifies preimplantation embryo genetic pathways controlling mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation. This experiment furthers our understanding of growth and development changes induced by preconception paternal exposures. Examination of paternal preconception alcohol consumption influence on gene expression in IVF morula stage embryos.