Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) in B6D2F1 and CB6F1 Strains Mice Using Cauda Epididymal Spermatozoa

Objective: Reproductive biotechnology studies focus on the longterm storage of embryos (cryopreservation), embryo cultures, genome editing of embryos and embryo transfer. Micromanipulation techniques in reproduction biotechnologies have an important role, especially in studies investigating assisted reproductive technology in laboratory animals. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of epididymal spermatozoa injected to oocyte by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in different mice strains. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro development of post-ICSI derived embryos using cauda epididymal sperm. Material and Method: Female mice (8-10 weeks) were superovulated using pregnant mare serum gonadotropin/human chorionic gonadotropin (PMSG/hCG) and ~14h post hCG, the mice were sacrificed, and the oocytes were collected. Spermatozoa from the cauda epididymal of a 12-week-old were used on the same strain for ICSI and the in vitro developmental potential was evaluated. Finally, the embryos were cultured for 120 hours at 5% CO2 with 37°C. Results: The results showed that the two-cell embryo of the B6D2F1 strain (79.31%) was significantly higher than the CB6F1 (56.26%) (p<0.05). While the blastocyst rate was comparable between both the B6D2F1 strain (68.75%) and CB6F1 strain (69.57%) (p>0.05). Conclusion: ICSI using cauda epididymal sperm is a suitable ap plication for in vitro embryo development in B6D2F1 and CB6F1 strains. Finally, ICSI success of the B6D2F1 mice strains was found to be higher than CB6F1 mice strains.