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Effect of fibronectin on early embryo development in cows

Summary. Two-cell bovine embryos produced in vitro were cultured in serum-free medium containing the soluble glycoprotein fibronectin (50 µg ml^–1) to study the function of the extracellular matrix in early development. Some of the embryos (48/164, 29·3%), developed beyond the 16-cell stage compared with none of the 179 controls. Fibronectin at lower (5 µg ml^–1) or higher (300 µg ml^–1) concentrations did not promote embryo development (0/89 and 0/82, respectively). Indirect immunofluorescence demonstrated the presence of both fibronectin and its receptor on the surface of eight-cell embryo blastomeres, and biotinylated fibronectin demonstrated that exogenous fibronectin could cross the zona pellucida. These results, demonstrating the successful culture of bovine embryos in serum-free medium, support the hypothesis that the extracellular matrix, specifically fibronectin, plays a role in early development of bovine embryos.

Keywords: fibronectin; embryos; cow

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