Comparative Analysis of Dynamic Proteomic Profiles between in Vivo and in Vitro Produced Mouse Embryos during Postimplantation Period

Assisted reproductive
technology (ART) increasingly is associated
with long-term side-effects on postnatal development and behaviors.
High-throughput gene expression analysis has been extensively used
to explore mechanisms responsible for these disorders. Our study,
for the first time, provides a comparative proteomic analysis between
embryos after in vivo fertilization and development (IVO, control)
and in vitro fertilization and culture (IVP). By comparing the dynamic
proteome during the postimplantation period, we identified 300 and
262 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between IVO and IVP embryos
at embryonic day 7.5 (E7.5) and E10.5, respectively. Bioinformatic
analysis showed many DEPs functionally associated with post-transcriptional,
translational, and post-translational regulation, and these observations
were consistent with correlation analysis between mRNA and protein
abundance. In addition to altered gene expression due to IVP procedures,
our findings suggest that aberrant processes at these various levels
also contributed to proteomic alterations. In addition, numerous DEPs
were involved in energy and amino acid metabolism, as well as neural
and sensory development. These DEPs are potential candidates for further
exploring the mechanism(s) of ART-induced intrauterine growth restriction
and neurodevelopmental disorders. Moreover, significant enrichment
of DEPs in pathways of neurodegenerative diseases implies the potentially
increased susceptibility of ART offspring to these conditions as adults.