Effects of Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 on the In Vitro Development of Mouse Embryos after Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation of gametes and embryos is widely used for mammalian genome resource banking. Effects of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) on the in vitro development of cleavage stage CD1 mouse embryos after their cryopreservation were studied. The mouse embryos developed in vivo up to the 4-6-cell stage were frozen in a programmable freezer according to standard protocol with 10% propylene glycol as a cryoprotectant and thereafter were thawed and cultured in vitro in KSOM for 48 h. The percentage of embryos developed up to blastocyst stage in culture medium supplemented with IGF-1 (40 ng/mL) was higher as compared to controls (78.9 and 47.4%, respectively, p < 0.01). Moreover, blastocysts developed in the presence of IGF-1 contained more cells as compared to controls (79.8 +/- 3.9 and 58.6 +/- 3.6 cells, respectively, p < 0.001). However, the index of nuclear fragmentation did not differ between these groups. Experimental results presented here revealed the stimulating effects of IGF-1 on the mouse preimplantation embryos after their cryopreservation.