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The key to successful in vitro embryo production is to mimic the natural in vivo oviductal microenvironment. Although the chemically defined media in extensive use for the in vitro culture of mammalian embryos is based on the composition of oviductal fluid, the in vitro embryo production (IVEP) systems in current use must still bypass the oviduct to produce embryos in vitro. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the oviduct are versatile intercellular delivery vehicles for maternal-embryo communication, and a lack of them can be associated with failed early embryonic development under in vitro culture conditions. Herein, we isolated EVs from porcine oviduct fluid and confirmed that oviductal EV supplementation improves the embryonic development of parthenogenetically activated (PA) embryos in terms of blastocyst formation rates and total cell numbers. Our experiments also revealed that a beneficial effect of oviductal EVs on PA embryos was achievable, at least in part, by relieving endoplasmic reticulum stress. These results suggest that the maternal-embryo communication mediated by oviductal EVs benefits early embryonic development. Given the contribution of oviductal EVs to early embryonic development, these findings offer novel insights for the optimization of current IVEP systems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Min pigs and Large White pigs are two breeds that vary significantly in thickness of adipose tissue. In this study, transcriptome profiling was used to examine the fat tissues of both breed...

Min Pig (Sus scrofa) is a northern Chinese domestic pig breed, whose cold resistance is remarkable. However, the cold-resistant phenotype of Min Pig is unclear. Our studies showed that in long-term...

Oocyte competence is an important determinant of reproductive success and can be disrupted by heat/cold stress. Information related to seasonally induced cold stress effects in cold areas on oocyte competence in the bovine is still scarce, however. Therefore, we performed experiments to test the hypothesis that seasonally induced cold/heat stress affects bovine oocyte competence in cold areas. Oocytes were collected in the winter, summer, and autumn, and we showed a significantly better survival and growth rate in the cold compared with hot temperatures, as recorded for two-cell and blastocyst stage embryos (P