Successful in vitro culture of pre-antral follicles derived from vitrified murine ovarian tissue: oocyte maturation, fertilization, and live births

Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is an important option for preserving the fertility of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In this study, we examined the viability and function of oocytes derived in vitro from pre-antral follicles as an alternative method for restoring fertility. Pre-antral follicles (specified as secondary follicle with a diameter around 100-130?μm) were mechanically isolated from vitrified-warmed and fresh adult mouse ovarian tissues and cultured for 12 days followed by an ovulation induction protocol at the end of this period to initiate oocyte maturation. Oocytes were then released from these follicles, fertilized in vitro, and cultured to the blastocyst stage and vitrified. After storage in liquid nitrogen for 2 weeks, groups of vitrified blastocysts were warmed and transferred into pseudo-pregnant recipient females. Although most of the isolated mouse pre-antral follicles from fresh (79.4%) and vitrified (75.0%) ovarian tissues survived the 12-day in vitro culture period, significantly fewer mature oocytes developed from vitrified-warmed pre-antral follicles than from the fresh controls (62.2 vs 86.4%, P<0.05). No difference was observed in embryo cleavage rates between these two groups, but the proportion of embryos that developed into blastocysts in the vitrification group was only half that of the controls (24.2 vs 47.2%, P<0.05). Nevertheless, live births of healthy normal pups were achieved after transfer of vitrified blastocysts derived from both experimental groups. This study shows that successful production of healthy offspring using an in vitro follicle culture system is feasible, and suggests that this procedure could be used in cancer patients who wish to preserve their fertility using ovarian tissue cryopreservation.     

Green Electro-Synthesized MIL-101(Fe) and Its Aspirin Detoxification Performance Compared to MOF-808

In this research, the performance of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) of MIL-101(Fe) and MOF-808 as aspirin detoxification agents was evaluated. MIL-101(Fe) was successfully prepared for the first time using the electrochemical method for 30 min under room temperature and pressure. MIL-101(Fe) detoxification capacity was compared to that of MOF-808, which was synthesized by a common solvothermal method at 135 °C for 24 h. The obtained materials were fully confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) with the appearance of MIL-101(Fe) characteristic peaks (at 2θ 8.5°; 9°;16.7°) and MOF-808 (at 2θ 8.3°; 8.7°; 10°; 10.9°), and also confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy that shows the coordination between metal and ligand. Based on scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), MIL-101(Fe) has a micro-spindle shape with average particles size of 649.12?±?73.32 nm, while MOF-808 showed irregular shape with average particle sizes of 169.73?±?31.87 nm. Nitrogen sorption isotherm confirmed that both materials could be classified as micro to-meso porous materials by the pore radius of 1.89 nm for each materials with BET surface areas of 131 for MIL-101(Fe), and 847 m²/g for MOF-808, respectively. Based on an in vitro test, in a gastric simulation, MIL-101(Fe) decreased 11.78% of aspirin, while MOF-808 decreased 7.99%. In the intestinal simulation, MIL-101(Fe) and MOF-808 decreased aspirin by 24.06% and 26.74%, respectively. XRD analysis of the MOFs after the detoxification test showed that MIL-101(Fe) has lower stability than MOF-808. FTIR spectra confirmed that aspirin was successfully adsorbed into the MOFs. Transmission electron microscopy showed that aspirin interacted with MIL-101(Fe) on the outer surface and with MOF-808 on the inside of the pores.

Graphical Abstract