Effects of meiosis-activating sterol on rRNA gene transcription and the developmental potential of preimplantation porcine embryos

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Current in vitro production systems have deteriorating effects on the normality of the resulting embryos. Deviations from the normal activation of the genes encoding the Topoisomerase I, Polymerase I, Upstream binding factor, Fibrilarin, Nucleolin and Nucleophosmin may be involved in this effect. Employing immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR technology we will study the molecular mechanisms involved in re-initiation of the embryonic rRNA transcription in vivo and thus develop suitable markers for evaluation of the normality of the embryos produced under various in vitro conditions. Special emphasis will be devoted to the role of meiosis activating sterol (MAS) during early development of the porcine embryo in vitro. Modification of oocyte culture conditions will focus on improvement of the in vitro pig embryo production system to such a level that the embryos of a sufficient viability can be produced on a routine basis. These data will contribute to understanding of the cell and molecular mechanisms regulating porcine pre-implantation embryonic development, increase the number of markers suitable for evaluation of the normality of the embryos, improve the culture conditions and finally increase the normality of embryos used in biomedical research.