Abstract
Implantation failure and early pregnancy loss have been reported to be closely related to the quality of mammalian oocytes; however, the pregnant outcome of embryos from in-vitro matured (IVM) oocytes remains unknown. In this study we examined spindle assembly and chromosome segregation during differentiation, and the duration of IVM of mouse oocytes. The resulting implantation and pregnancy outcomes were analyzed to clarify the relationship between the spindle and chromosomes of IVM oocytes and implantation and early pregnancy. Cumulus-enclosed germinal vesicle oocytes were collected and randomly cultured in IVM medium with different IVM durations. One part of IVM oocytes were analyzed the spindle and chromosome morphology by immunofluorescence method, and the other part of them were fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The resulting embryos were transferred into pseudo-pregnant female mice, and the post-implantation and full term development was observed. The chromosome aberrations and incorrect spindle assembly seems not affect the early development and blastocyst cell number derived from IVM oocytes, however the development potential of the resulting embryos after implantation were significant decreased with the ratio increasing of chromosome aberrations and incorrect spindle assembly. Accordingly, the full-term development was also decreased. In conclusion, the present study showed the spindle assembly of in vitro-matured oocytes was one of the most important factors that affected the implantation and ongoing pregnancy rates of IVM oocytes, and the improvement by an appropriate duration of maturation in vitro will enhance the post-implantation development potential of the resulting embryos, and decrease implantation failure and early pregnancy loss.