Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
Volume 238, Issue 4, Pages 950-955Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.21918
Keywords
microfluidics; embryo culture; in vitro
Categories
Funding
- NIH/NICHD [R01 HD057970-01]
- Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Program [NIH K12 HD01249]
- Reproductive Scientist Development Program [NIH K12HD00849]
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine
- Beckman Interdisciplinary Translational Research Program
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The high attrition rate of in vitro human embryo culture presents a major obstacle in the treatment of clinical infertility by in vitro fertilization (IVF). Physical and genetic requirements are not well understood for human or mouse preimplantation embryo development. Group culture is an established requirement for optimal embryo development in the mouse model. However, conventional microdrop culture limitations hinder investigations of the effects of physical parameters on in vitro embryo development. We report a microfluidics platform that enables embryo culture in precisely defined, sub-microliter volumes (5-500 nl) which cannot be investigated using conventional methods. Groups of two embryos per microfluidic well successfully developed to the blastocyst stage, at a rate of over 80%, which is comparable to those cultured in 20-mu l microdrops. This system can be used to dissect physical requirements of in vitro single or group embryo culture, and be made highly parallel to increase experimental throughput. Developmental Dynamics 238:950-955, 2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
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