Nitric oxide as a regulator in preimplantation embryo development and apoptosis.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanisms of nitric oxide (NO) in the development and apoptosis of preimplantation mouse embryos. DESIGN: Prospective, controlled study. SETTING: Medical college laboratory. SUBJECT(S): Two-cell embryos from outbred ICR mice. INTERVENTION(S): Hyperstimulation protocol, two-cell embryos were collected, then treated with or without an NO synthase inhibitor (L-NAME) or an NO donor (SNP) and combined with a cGMP analogue (8-Br-cGMP) or a selective inhibitor of NO-sensitive soluble guanylyl cyclase (ODQ). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The development of ICR mouse embryo from two cells to blastocyst stages in vitro. RESULT(S): The development of blastocyst was inhibited by L-NAME in a concentration-dependent manner (0.1-10 microM) and 0.1 microM SNP reversed this effect (80.5% of control). Annexin-V/propidium iodide and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling techniques demonstrated that excessive NO (> or =10 microM) might induce apoptosis in the mouse embryos. 8-Br-cGMP reversed the inhibitory effect of L-NAME and rescued the embryo growth. ODQ inhibited the embryo development in a dose-responsive fashion (0.1--100 microM) but had no effect in the NO-induced embryo apoptosis. P53 and Bax were found to be up-regulated during the embryo fragmentation. CONCLUSION(S): These results indicate that the cGMP pathway might be involved in the NO-regulated embryonic development, but not in NO-induced apoptosis, for which P53/Bax pathway might be involved.[1]References
- Nitric oxide as a regulator in preimplantation embryo development and apoptosis. Chen, H.W., Jiang, W.S., Tzeng, C.R. Fertil. Steril. (2001) [Pubmed]
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