• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.343-348
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• 2018

Although the efforts to establish fish embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been made for a long time, derivation of authentic ESCs that possess pluripotency is still difficult suggesting a need for the stepwise optimization of the methods to establish fish ESCs. Primary culture of the blastomeres from the embryos at blastula stage is a critical step for establishing continuous ESC lines. Here, we evaluated the effects of temperatures and basal media on primary culture of blastula embryo-derived blastomeres in marine medaka (Oryzias dancena). The blastomeres were isolated from the blastula embryos and cultured in various conditions designed by the combination of 4 temperatures including $28^{\circ}C$, $31^{\circ}C$, $34^{\circ}C$, and $37^{\circ}C$ and 2 basal media including Dulbecco's modified eagle's medium (DMEM) and Leibovitz's L-15 medium (L15). With the exception of a case cultured in L15 at $31^{\circ}C$, the rate of primary cell adherence reached 100% when the blastomeres were cultured over $31^{\circ}C$. The period for primary adherence was significantly shorter in the groups cultured in $34^{\circ}C$ and $37^{\circ}C$ than in the ones in $28^{\circ}C$ and $31^{\circ}C$. The proportion of subculture was significantly high in the group cultured in DMEM at $31^{\circ}C$ compared to the other groups. Collectively, we demonstrated that the culture in DMEM at $31^{\circ}C$ was effective to primary culture of the blastomeres derived from blastula embryos.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 1995

Effect of cadmium on the early amphibian development was analyzed through FETAX (Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay: Xenopus). Embryos manifested concentration-dependent mortality and realformations; shortage of anterior-posterior axis gut realformation, ocular anomalies, bent notochord, misshapen dorsal fin, and derreal blisters. The treatment with 1.5ppm cadmium solution caused 100% mortality and concentration of lppm did not kill the embryos that caused 100% anomaly. The teratogenic index (TI = LC50 /EC50) was 2.8 indicating that $CdCl_2$ is teratogenic for Xenopus laevis. Embryos that were pulsetreated with at early to late blastula stage (St. 3-9) and mid to late blastula stage (St. 6-10) showed relatively strong resistance to cadmium, but the embryos treated at gastrula stage (St. 10-13) showed high mortality. And the embryos treated at tailbud stage (after St. 25) showed highest mortality of any other early stages. Effects of temperature were studied through pulse- treatment during gastrula stage at $20^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$. The embryos treated with 7.5ppm at $30^{\circ}C$ and 15ppm at $20^{\circ}C$ caused 100% mortality respectively, indicating that higher temperature had more severe toxic effect. One of the most peculiar effect of cadmium at gastrulation was distortion of the tail. The probable cause of toxic effect of Cd was discussed.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.894-896
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• 2000

In vitro fertilization can be used for salvaging superior buffalo germplasm which otherwise goes waste after the slaughter of animals. This technology has also increased our basic understanding of growth of germ cells and embryos. The requirement of growing embryos is peculiar and stage specific. In the present study the cleavage and development of buffalo embryos were studied with homologous (buffalo) and heterologous (goat) oviductal cell co-culture systems. The cleavage rate improved significantly (p<0.01) in both homologous and heterologous co-culture as compared to control (55.3, 46.8 and 11.4%). The morula formation using homologous and heterologous oviductal cells also increased significantly as compared to control group (43.6, 21.9 & 1.9%). There was no blastula formation in control group, but addition of oviductal cells either from homologous or heterologous species significantly increased the blastula formation (9.5, 12.5%). The cleavage rate and embryo development was slightly better (non significant) in homologous as compared to heterologous oviductal cell culture. It was concluded that the use of oviductal cell co-culture (homologous and heterologous species) have significantly improved cleavage and development of buffalo embryos in vitro.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.177-185
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• 2013

The development of species-specific fish cell lines has become a valuable tool for biological research. In recent years, marine medaka Oryzias dancena has been recognized as a good experimental model fish but there are no reports of establishment of cell lines from this fish. In this study, two cell lines from O. dancena blastula embryos were established from 41 total trials (4.9%). The two cell lines displayed typical in vitro morphology and have been cultured for >121 passages, which corresponds to 293 days. The doubling times of the cell lines were 29.84 and 28.59 h, respectively, and both possessed the potential to expand in a clonal manner, albeit with significant differences between the two cell lines. The absence of any of the four main medium supplements; i.e., fish serum, fetal bovine serum, basic fibroblast growth factor, and medaka embryo extract, significantly inhibited growth. The proportion of cells possessing normal chromosome number was 45% and 46.7% of the cell lines, respectively. Taken together, two cell lines that proliferate continuously were established from marine medaka and these cell lines may provide a basic tool for characterizing the unique features of this fish species.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.205-212
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• 1998

A sodium-independent facilitative glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) is a major route by which glucose can be transported across the plasma membrane of mouse embryo. Although it has been known that insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) promotes glucose transport into the mouse embryo, whether IGF-I directly regulates transcription of Glut1 has been uncovered in mouse preimplantation embryo. This study was aimed to elucidate the role of glucose and IGF-I in development and Glut1 expression in preimplantation mouse embryo. Two-cell embryos developed in blastocyst regardless of the glucose in the presence of pyruvate. IGF-I significantly increased the number of blastomeres in the mid-blastula. Deprivation of glucose did not affect the amount of Glut1 transcripts in morula cultured from 2-cell embryo. IGF-I potentiated Glut1 expression in morula cultured from 2-cell embryo even in the absence of glucose. Taken together, it is concluded that depletion of glucose does not promote Glut1 expression the in morula cultured form 2-cell embryo, and that increment of Glut1 expression possibly mediates embryotropic effect of IGF-I on preimplantation mouse embryo.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.265-273
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• 2001

The sea urchin has been used as sea food in many countries. This species has also been an important organism of embryological studies for more than a century. In recent years, sea urchin embryos are being used as testing materials for toxicity of pollutants and toxins. Usefulness of sea urchin embryos as experimental models comes from the easiness in obtaining sea urchin samples and a lot of gametes, in rearing embryos in the laboratory, in observing the cellular movement and organ formation during the embryogenesis and in manipulating blastomeres and genetic maferials. The sea urchin in itself is a key organism for the understanding of deuterostome evolution from the protostomes and of indirect development of marine invertebrates which undergo the planktotrophic larval stage. A fertilized sea urchin egg goes through rapid cleavage and becomes a 60 cell embryo 7hr after fertilization. It then develops into a morula, a blastula, a gastrula and finally a pluteus larva approximately 70 hr after fertilization. At the 60 cell stage, the embryo comprises of five territories that express territory-speciflc genes and later form different organs. Micromeres at the vegetal pole ingress into the blastoceol and become the primary mesenchyme cells(PMCs). PMCs express genes involved in skeletogenesis such as SM30, SM37, SM50, PM27, msp130. Among the genes, SM37 and SM50 are considered to be members of a gene family which is characterized by early blastula expression, Glycine-Proline-Glutamine rich repeat structures and spicule matrix forming basic proteins. Genetic studies on the sea urchin embryos help understand the molecular basis of indirect development of marine invertebrates and also of the biomineralization common to the animal kingdom.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2016

This study was carried out to determine the optimal water temperature for the embryonic development and laboratory culture of larvae of an intertidal mud snail, Nassarius festivus. The embryos and hatched veliger larvae of N. festivus were incubated at six different temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and $30^{\circ}C$). Developmental time for each stage decreased as water temperature increased. The elapsed time to develop to the veliger larva at 15, 20, 25 and $30^{\circ}C$ was 559, 155, 131 and 103 hrs, respectively. At 5 and $10^{\circ}C$, embryo developed to veliger larvae but failed to hatch out of the egg capsule. In contrast, all embryos successfully hatched in the temperature range from 15 to $30^{\circ}C$. The biological minimum temperature during the embryonic development of N. festivus was estimated to be $9.5{\pm}0.4^{\circ}C$. The cumulative water temperatures for blastula, gastrula and veliger stages were calculated as $111{\pm}84$, $486{\pm}185$, $1,164{\pm}72^{\circ}C$, respectively. Temperature also affected the larval survival. Five days after hatching, more than 84% of larvae survived at all experimental temperatures. However, survival began to decrease after 6 days. It was 0% at $30^{\circ}C$. Survival of larvae incubated for 8 days was higher at 15 and $20^{\circ}C$ than other experimental temperatures. We therefore suggest that the optimal range of temperature for embryonic development and larval survival of N. festivus is $15-20^{\circ}C$.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.345-353
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• 1999

In the studies on the hatching mechanisms in mammals, many investigators focused on the embryonic intrinsic factor(s) in in vitro culture, but the uterine environment as the extrinsic factor(s) is thought to play an important role in hatching mechanism. Therefore, to evaluate the effect of uterine environment on the hatching event in vivo, the immature(GV) and ovulated(MII) oocytes, and the late 2-cell embryos of mouse were transferred to pseudopregnant foster mother's uterus during peri-implantation period. So it was verified whether there would happen hatching by only uterine environment independently on embryonic stage. The ultrastructural changes of the zona surface of transferred group were compared with those 01 in vivo and vitro group by SEM. 36 hrs after transfer, the immature and ovulated oocytes almost degenerated, and the late 2-cell embryos developed to various embryonic stages. However, the embryos which didn't develop to blastula stage did not hatch. The ultrastructural network of ZP in transferred group seemed to be smoothed uniformly, which was different from in vitro group. In conclusion, it is suggested that the uterine environment during peri-implantation period enhances the embryo hatching by provoking the structural change of ZP.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.207-214
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• 2020

Primary cell culture is a sufficient method frequently used to study the cellular properties and mechanisms of isolated cells in a controlled environment. In this study, an embryonic cell line (FGBC8) derived from the blastula stages of embryos of olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus was developed. Furthermore, conditions for optimal long-term maintenance of this primary embryonic cell culture were investigated. Morphologically, FGBC8 cells were composed primarily of epithelial-like cells. FGBC8 cells were subcultured for >160 passages over ~830 days. The doubling time of FGBC8 cells was 73.8 h, and the modal diploid chromosome number was 48. FGBC8 cells transfected with green fluorescence protein (GFP)-expression plasmid exhibited a strong signal 48 h after transfection. Consequently, we demonstrated that fish serum is a crucial supplement for the long-term survival and maintenance of comparable morphology in these primary embryonic cells. Our results can be used as a guide for primary embryonic cell cultures for other fish species and may be useful for cell biotechnological applications.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2024

Serotransferrin cDNA from the Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii was isolated and its expression patterns during early life intervals were characterized. It contained an ORF encoding a 708-aa-long polypeptide, including a 19-aa signal peptide. Bioinfomatic analysis and 3D modeling indicated a typical bi-lobal structure with conserved iron-coordinating residues. During embryonic development, the potential transition of maternally provisioned transcripts to zygotically de novo transcribed ones occurred around blastula stage. The transferrin mRNA levels peaked at stages responsible for pronephros, heart and erythropoietic component differentiation. After hatching, the transferrin mRNA expression gradually increased at early ontogenic phases (0 to 3 DPH) corresponding to the periods in which prolarvae exhibited increased blood circulation and liver differentiation. The expression decreased at subsequent stages in which prolarvae exhibited benthic movement. The tissue distribution assay indicated liver-predominant expression at fingerling stage. From the microinjection-based challenge with Aeromonas hydrophila at day-0 and day-7, the transcriptional response was modulated toward upregulation, in which the amounts induced at 6, 12 and 24 HPI were greater in prolarvae injected at day-7 than at day-0. Therefore, transferrin plays important roles in both early development and host protective responses to pathogens in the Siberian sturgeon.