Cryo-survival and development of bovine blastocysts are enhanced by culture with recombinant albumin and hyaluronan

Recombinant albumin can be used to supplement culture medium for the maturation and fertilization of bovine oocytes and subsequent embryo development to the blastocyst stage. Recombinant albumin was able to support blastocyst development at rates equivalent to that of bovine serum albumin (BSA) supplemented media. Supplementation of media containing recombinant albumin and citrate stimulated blastocyst expansion. Culture with recombinant albumin and citrate significantly increased the ability of the resultant blastocysts to re-expand and hatch following cryopreservation. The further addition of the glycosaminoglycan hyaluronan to the culture medium containing either BSA or recombinant albumin also increased the ability of blastocysts to survive cryopreservation. Inclusion of recombinant albumin and hyaluronan in culture media facilitates the development of physiological defined culture conditions. For bovine embryos this has implications for both research and commercial applications where defined reproducible conditions are desirable. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 64: 70-78, 2003. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.