Inexpensive protocol for single-cell X-chromosome inactivation analysis: Xist expression and H3K27me3 staining by Pristyazhnyuk I.E., Meshcheryakov N.I., Menzorov A.G

“…Both female X-chromosomes are transcriptionally active (Xa) at the blastocyst stage, then one of the X-chromosomes undergoes random inactivation (Xi). …”
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Supplementation with Eupatilin during In Vitro Maturation Improves Porcine Oocyte Developmental Competence by Regulating Oxidative Stress and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress by Jing Wang, Ying-Hua Li, Rong-Ping Liu, Xin-Qin Wang, Mao-Bi Zhu, Xiang-Shun Cui, Zhen Dai, Nam-Hyung Kim, Yong-Nan Xu

“…The results showed that 0.1 μM eupatilin supplementation did not affect the expansion of porcine cumulus cells, but significantly increased the extrusion rate of porcine oocyte polar bodies, the subsequent blastocyst formation rate, and the quality of parthenogenetically activated porcine embryos. …”
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Additional Estrogen Administration to Avoid Poor Outcomes Associated with a Thin Endometrium in Frozen Embryo Transfer by Kyoko Takahashi, Isao Takehara, Fumihiro Nakamura, Nanako Nakai, Jun Matsukawa, Koki Matsuo, Jun Kawagoe, Hideki Igarashi, Satoru Nagase

“…We analyzed 303 cycles of blastocyst-FET and compared patient background characteristics and pregnancy outcomes between day 14 and day 21 groups. …”
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Omics Views of Mechanisms for Cell Fate Determination in Early Mammalian Development by Lin-Fang Ju, Heng-Ji Xu, Yun-Gui Yang, Ying Yang

“…During mammalian preimplantation development, a totipotent zygote undergoes several cell cleavages and two rounds of cell fate determination, ultimately forming a mature blastocyst. Along with compaction, the establishment of apicobasal cell polarity breaks the symmetry of an embryo and guides subsequent cell fate choice. …”
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Preimplantation Genetic Testing within the Public Healthcare System in Slovenia by Volk M, Writzl K, Veble A, Jaklič H, Teran N, Prosenc B, Štimpfel M, Virant Klun I, Vrtačnik Bokal E, Ban Frangež H, Peterlin B

“…Altogether, the clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer was 31% in 2004–2016 (blastomere biopsy) and 43% in 2017–19 (blastocyst biopsy), respectively. We assessed that approximately a third of couples would opt for PGT, while the rest preferred natural conception with prenatal diagnosis. …”
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MiR-145 is upregulated in the retarded preimplantation embryos and modulates cholesterol levels in mice preimplantation embryos through targeting Abca1 by Ou Jian, Ni MengXia, Xing Shiyu, Meng QingXia, Zou QinYan, Ding Jie, Wang Wei, Wan Jiaojiao, Li Hong, Huang Yining

“…Methods Normally developing blastocysts and arrested embryos were collected from patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and the expression of specific miRNAs therein was evaluated by qPCR. …”
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Comparative Study of Sperm Selection Techniques for Pregnancy Rates in an Unselected IVF–ICSI Population by Ioana Zaha, Petronela Naghi, Liana Stefan, Cosmina Bunescu, Mihaela Radu, Mariana Eugenia Muresan, Mircea Sandor, Liliana Sachelarie, Anca Huniadi

“…The microfluidic sperm selection (ZyMot-ICSI) is based on the selection of the spermatozoa with the lowest DNA fragmentation rate, but studies do not prove better clinical outcomes after this method. (2) Methods: We conducted a retrospective trial comparing 119 couples that were allocated to the classic gradient centrifugation sperm method (control group), and 120 couples that were allocated with the microfluidic technique being used (study group) at our university-level clinic, to go through IVF. (3) Results: The statistical analysis showed that there is no significant difference between the fertilization rate (study vs. control <i>p</i> = 0.87), but regarding blastocyst rate (study vs. control <i>p</i> = 0.046) and clinical pregnancy (<i>p</i> = 0.049), there is quite a significant statistical difference. …”
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Grape Seed Proanthocyanidin Ameliorates FB₁-Induced Meiotic Defects in Porcine Oocytes by Wenhui Li, Yijing He, Hongyu Zhao, Lei Peng, Jia Li, Rong Rui, Shiqiang Ju

“…The results show that 200 μM GSP cotreatment observably ameliorated the toxic effects of FB₁ exposure, showing to be promoting first polar body extrusion and improving the subsequent cleavage rate and blastocyst development rate. Moreover, 200 μM GSP cotreatment restored cell cycle progression, reduced the proportion of aberrant spindles, improved actin distribution and protected mitochondrial function in FB₁-exposed oocytes. …”
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Ultra-Fast Vitrification: Minimizing the Toxicity of Cryoprotective Agents and Osmotic Stress in Mouse Oocyte Cryopreservation by Jung-Ran Cho, Eun-Hee Yu, Hyun-Joo Lee, In-Hye Kim, Ji-Hye Jeong, Dan-Bi Lee, Seong-Keun Cho, Jong-Kil Joo

“…UF-VIT exhibited considerably fewer negative effects on key MT parameters and resulted in a notably higher blastocyst formation rate than C-VIT. Meiotic spindle (spindle and chromosomes) morphology showed no significant changes between the groups during vitrification/warming (VW), suggesting that VW did not negatively affect the meiotic spindle of the oocytes. …”
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Short-Term Exposure with Long-Term Effects: The Ketone Body, Beta-Hydroxybutyrate, Alters Mouse Embryo Developmental Programming and Reduces Viability by Emma G. WHATLEY, Alexandra J. HARVEY, David K. GARDNER

“…Day 4 blastocysts were transferred to pseudo-pregnant females for analysis of embryonic day 14.5 placental and fetal development. …”
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Primed Track, high-fidelity lineage tracing in mouse pre-implantation embryos using primed conversion of photoconvertible proteins by Maaike Welling, Manuel Alexander Mohr, Aaron Ponti, Lluc Rullan Sabater, Andrea Boni, Yumiko K Kawamura, Prisca Liberali, Antoine HFM Peters, Pawel Pelczar, Periklis Pantazis

“…Confined primed conversion of H2B-pr-mEosFP-labeled nuclei combined with light-sheet imaging greatly facilitates segmentation, classification, and tracking of individual nuclei from the 4-cell stage up to the blastocyst. Using green and red labels as fiducial markers, we computationally correct for rotational and translational drift, reduce overall data size, and accomplish high-fidelity lineage tracing even for increased imaging time intervals – addressing major concerns in the field of volumetric embryo imaging.…”
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Embryonic Environmental Niche Reprograms Somatic Cells to Express Pluripotency Markers and Participate in Adult Chimaeras by Krystyna Żyżyńska-Galeńska, Agnieszka Bernat, Anna Piliszek, Jolanta Karasiewicz, Ewa Szablisty, Mariusz Sacharczuk, Marta Brewińska-Olchowik, Michał Bochenek, Joanna Grabarek, Jacek Andrzej Modliński

“…Mouse embryonic fibroblasts introduced between blastomeres of cleaving embryos, within two days of in vitro culture, express transcription factors specific to blastocyst lineages, including pluripotency factors. …”
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N-acetylcysteine alleviated tris(2-chloroisopropyl) phosphate-induced sperm motility decline and functional dysfunction in mice through reversing oxidative stress and DNA damage by Ying Wang, Yang Xu, Lin Yang, Yang Yang, An-Liang Guo, Xiao-Juan Han, Dan-ni Jiang, Lan Chao

“…In this study, we found that TCPP reduced the sperm motility and blastocyst formation, inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in mice testes and spermatocyte cell line GC-2. …”
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The Characteristics and Obstetric Outcomes of Type II Vasa Previa: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Shinya Matsuzaki, Yutaka Ueda, Satoko Matsuzaki, Mamoru Kakuda, Misooja Lee, Yuki Takemoto, Harue Hayashida, Michihide Maeda, Reisa Kakubari, Tsuyoshi Hisa, Seiji Mabuchi, Shoji Kamiura

“…The association between ART and abnormal placenta (bilobed placenta or succenturiate lobe) was examined in three studies, and the results were as follows: (<i>i</i>) increased rate of succenturiate lobes (ART versus non-ART pregnancy; OR (odds ratio) 6.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.45–19.78); (<i>ii</i>) similar rate of abnormal placenta (cleavage-stage versus blastocyst embryo transfer); (<i>iii</i>) increased rate of abnormal placenta (frozen versus fresh embryo transfer; OR 2.97, 95%CI 1.10–7.96). …”
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Presence of Adenomyosis Impairs Clinical Outcomes in Women Undergoing Frozen Embryo Transfer: A Retrospective Cohort Study by Noémie Sachs-Guedj, Buenaventura Coroleu, María Ángela Pascual, Ignacio Rodríguez, Nikolaos P. Polyzos

“…Although the role of adenomyosis in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) was investigated in several studies and demonstrated a potentially detrimental effect on live birth rates following IVF, most of them were small studies in which the adenomyosis diagnosis was not confirmed based on solid ultrasonographic criteria. (2) Methods: 3503 patients undergoing their first blastocyst frozen transfer through a hormonal replacement (HRT) FET cycle. …”
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Bisphenol A Analogues Suppress Spheroid Attachment on Human Endometrial Epithelial Cells through Modulation of Steroid Hormone Receptors Signaling Pathway by Hongjie Fan, Sudini R. Fernando, Luhan Jiang, Ziyi Wang, Suranga P. Kodithuwakku, Chris K. C. Wong, Ernest H. Y. Ng, William S. B. Yeung, Kai-Fai Lee

“…We used an in vitro spheroid (blastocyst surrogate) co-culture assay to investigate the effects of BPA, BPS, and BPF on spheroid attachment on human endometrial epithelial cells, and further delineated their role on steroid hormone receptor expression. …”
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Autologous ovarian platelet rich plasma treatment improves oocyte and embryo quality: a before-after prospective study by Dimitar Parvanov, Rumiana Ganeva, Nina Vidolova, Kristina Nikolova, Magdalena Vasileva, Tihomir Totev, Georgi Stamenov

“…Moreover, the mean MII oocyte quality (1.60 ± 0.54 vs. 2.31 ± 0.63, p < 0.01) and mean blastocyst quality (1.53 ± 0.45 vs. 2.42 ± 0.63, p < 0.01) were significantly improved in the post-treatment period. …”
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Perinatal outcomes of singletons following double vitrification-warming procedures: a retrospective study using propensity score analysis by Xiaoyue Shen, Min Ding, Yuan Yan, Chenyang Huang, Shanshan Wang, Jianjun Zhou, Jun Xing

“…They were divided into two groups: vitrified-warmed blastocysts (once-vitrified group) and vitrified-warmed blastocysts derived from thawed cleaved embryos (re-vitrified group). …”
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#161 : Validation and Concordance of Non-Invasive Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (niPGT-A) Using Cell Free DNA from Spent Culture Media (SCM) with Gold Standard Tro... by Neeta Singh, Ankita Sethi, Lata Rani, Ritu Gupta, Monika Saini

“…Out of 14 aneuploid blastocysts on TE biopsy, 9 (64%) showed corresponding aneuploidy (full chromosomal concordance) on WB NGS profile. …”
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Molecular Determinants of Uterine Receptivity: Comparison of Successful Implantation, Recurrent Miscarriage, and Recurrent Implantation Failure by Veronika Günther, Leila Allahqoli, Anupama Deenadayal-Mettler, Nicolai Maass, Liselotte Mettler, Georgios Gitas, Kristin Andresen, Melanie Schubert, Johannes Ackermann, Sören von Otte, Ibrahim Alkatout

“…Proper endometrial function as well as a dynamic interaction between the endometrium itself and the blastocyst—the so-called embryo–maternal dialog—are necessary for successful implantation. …”
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