Use of melatonin as an inhibitor of apoptotic process for cryopreservation of zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos.
Abstract
This study investigated the use of melatonin to arrest the effects of apoptosis in vitrified zebrafish (D. rerio) embryos. Dechorionated embryos at 22-24 somite-stage were divided (n = 60/treatment) into a non-vitrified (Control Group, 0 M melatonin) and vitrified treatments with 0 M (T1), 1 µM (T2) and 1 mM of melatonin (T3). For vitrified treatments, a solution methanol/propylene glycol based was used and the embryos stored in -196 °C for a week. After thaw, survival rate, scanning electron microscopy, expression of anti (bcl-2) and pro-apoptotic (bax/caspase-3) genes, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and DNA fragmentation analyses were performed. No live embryos were obtained from vitrified treatments, observing a rapid degeneration immediately after thawing, with the vitelline layer rupture and leakage of its content, followed by breakdown of epithelial cells and melanisation of the tissue. Regarding the apoptotic process, T3 had the highest relative gene expression, for the three genes (P < 0.05) furthermore, T2 had similar expression of pro-apoptotic genes to CG (P < 0.05). ROS formation revealed that CG presented lower percentage of embryo surface area affected (3.80 ± 0.40%) (P < 0.05), in contrast, no difference...Continue Reading
References
Melatonin as a potential tool against oxidative damage and apoptosis in ejaculated human spermatozoa
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Apoptosis
Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis