Protective potential of SCF for mice preimplantation embryos cultured in vitro in suboptimal conditions

Purpose To examine the effect of stem cell factor (SCF) to embryos exposed to detrimental factors. Methods Mice embryos cultured in control medium or Exp.1. with FasL or FasL+SCF Exp.2. with hydrogen peroxide (HP) or HP+SCF; Exp.3. frozen-thawed and cultured with or without SCF. Immunohistochemistry for Fas and c-kit receptors was performed in blastocysts. Blastocyst rates, total numbers of blastocyst cells (TB) and inner cell mass cell counts (ICM) were determined. Results Immunohistochemical studies revealed expression of both Fas and c-kit in blastocyst cells. Exp.1. Significantly more blastocysts were found in control when compared to FasL group and to FasL+SCF group. TB and ICM counts in control and FasL+SCF group were significantly higher comparing to FasL group. Exp.2. We found significant differences between three groups in all three evaluated parameters. The highest blastocyst rates, TB and ICM counts were found in control, lower in HP+SCF group and the worst in HP group. Exp.3. No significant differences in TB and ICM counts were found. More embryos formed blastocyst in control than in two cryopreserved groups. Blastocyst rates did not differ between two cryopreserved groups. Conclusion SCF may improve culture of embryos exposed to unfavorable milieu.