Cryopreservation has been extensively used in human reproductive medicine, aquaculture and conservation programs for endangered species. Many studies have been devoted to the mechanisms of cryodamage. However, in spite of growing successes of cryopreservation, post-thaw recovery of reproductive and embryonic cells often remains poor. It is known that cryopreservation causes extensive damage to membrane, results in decreased metabolism of cells, and disturbs the bioenergetical processes of cells by damage to mitochondria. Nonetheless, it has not yet been identified clearly if cryopreservation causes some disruption in the genetic integrity of reproductive cells and the safety of this approach still needs to be confirmed. The present study was undertaken on the spermatozoa of weather loach (Misgurnus tassilis) and blastomeres cells of zebrafish (Danio rerio). It was shown that survival was decreased for embryos derived from sperm after cryoprotectant treatment or cryopreservation. Some evidence has emerged that this decrease is more likely to reflect some genetic instability caused by cryopreservation of sperm. The present study showed for the first time that the DNA repair system of oocytes was activated after fertilisation with cryopreserved sperm. The effect of DNA repair system was also studied. It was found that incubation of fertilised eggs in caffeine could reverse the detrimental effects of cryopreservation of loach sperm on subsequent embryo development. On the other hand incubation of fertilised eggs with 3-aminobenzamide - inhibitor of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)- brought further decrease in the survival of embryos derived from cryopreserved sperm. The effect of individual donors of sperm and eggs on overall embryo survival was also studied and these investigations revealed significant differences between different donors. Effect of cryopreservation on zebrafish blastomeres was studied at the DNA molecular level. Mitochondrial DNA was sequenced after cryopreservation and increased level of frequency of the mutation was observed. This finding showed that cryopreservation might potentially increase the instability of mtDNA genome. The significance of these changes on the subsequent function of the cells is to be elucidated. Meanwhile this study suggests that it is important to be cautious in making judgements on the safety of cryopreservation techniques in reproduction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:483678 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Kopeika, Julia |
| Publisher | University of Bedfordshire |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10547/558306 |
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