Differentiation Potential of Human Wharton’s Jelly-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Paracrine Signaling Interaction Contribute to Improve the In Vitro Maturation of Mouse Cumulus Oocyte Complexes

[摘要] In vitro maturation (IVM) in cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) can be improved by the presence of human Wharton’s jelly-derived MSCs (hWJ-MSCs), under specific culture conditions. COCs were cultured in twelve different culture systems, composed of four stock media, stock media conditioned with hWJ-MSCs, and stock media in which the oocytes were indirectly cocultured with the hWJ-MSCs. The rates of maturation to meiosis II were compared among the groups. G2-PLUS and coculture with DMEM-F12 were the most efficient systems for the maturation of COCs. The fertilization rate and rate of development to the blastocyst stage were compared between these two groups. Moreover, hWJ-MSC-conditioned media showed no benefits for the COC-IVM. The analysis of OCT4 expression of hWJ-MSCs in G1-PLUS, TYH, and G2-PLUS showed a downregulation of OCT4 by 25.9, 24.7, and 6.6%, respectively, compared to that in hWJ-MSCs cultured in DMEM-F12. Finally, we have demonstrated that two prerequisites appeared to be necessary for the hWJ-MSCs to improve the IVM of COCs hWJ-MSCs’ differentiation potential and the presence of coordinated paracrine interaction between the stem cells and COCs. Under the appropriate conditions, the paracrine factors produced in the coculture system with DMEM-F12 may help to develop synthetic media for successful in vitro culture of COCs.

[学科分类] 生物技术