Abstract
In bovine embryos, the microRNA (miRNA) expression has been profiled at each stage of early development in vitro. The miRNAomic analysis of spent media has the potential to reveal characteristics of embryo health; however, applications are limited without categorizing miRNA profiles by embryo quality. Time-lapse imaging has shown the timing of embryo development in vitro may be indicative of their developmental potential. The study aimed to characterize miRNAs in the spent media of bovine embryos with different growth rates during the pre-implantation phase. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes were aspirated from ovaries, fertilized, and cultured to blastocyst stage of development. At the 2-cell, 8-cell, and blastocyst stage, each microdrop of 30 presumptive zygotes were classified as slow- or fast-growing based on the percentage of embryos that had reached the desired morphological stage. A comparative analysis was performed on the spent media of slow- and fast-growing embryos using the results of a GeneChip miRNA 4.0 array hybridization. In total, 34 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified between the comparison groups: 14 miRNAs were found in the 2-cell samples, 7 in the 8-cell samples, and 12 in the blastocyst samples. The results demonstrate distinct miRNAs populations can be identified between slow- and fast-growing embryos, highlighting the novel biomarkers of developmental potential at each stage of pre-implantation development.