IGF-1 treatment during <i>in vitro</i> maturation improves developmental potential of ovine oocytes through the regulation of PI3K/Akt and apoptosis signaling
Pradeep Krishna Javvaji, A. Dhali, Joseph Rabinson Francis, Atul P. Kolte, Sudhir C. Roy, Sellappan Selvaraju, A. Mech, Veerasamy Sejian
Abstract
This study aimed to assess the effect of the insulin-like grow factor 1 (IGF-1) treatment during in vitro maturation on the gene expression and developmental ability of ovine oocytes. Ovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) were matured in vitro without (control) or with the supplementation of IGF-1 (100 ng/ml) and then subjected to in vitro fertilization and culture. The rate of oocyte maturation and embryo development was recorded and expression of the selected genes (involved in the PI3K/Akt and apoptosis signaling) was assessed in the matured oocytes. The IGF-1 treatment significantly (p < .05) improved the oocyte maturation rate (%) as compared to the control (81.5 ± 2.40 vs. 73.6 ± 0.94). Similarly, as compared to the control, the IGF-1 treatment significantly (p < .05) improved the rate (%) of cleavage (54.7 ± 1.58 vs. 67.2 ± 3.65) and the formation of 4–8 cell embryos (30.7 ± 2.89 vs. 44.1 ± 4.01) and morula (20.7 ± 2.08 vs. 32.8 ± 2.78). The IGF-1 treatment significantly (p < .05) upregulated the expression of IGF1R, PI3KR1, AKT1 and BCL2 and downregulated the expression of GSK3β, FOXO3 and CASP9 in the matured oocytes. In conclusion, the IGF-1 treatment significantly improved the developmental competence of ovine oocytes through the regulation of the PI3K/Akt and apoptosis signaling.