• Transcriptomic profiling revea...

*Result*: Transcriptomic profiling reveals similarities between equine IVF and ICSI embryos.

Title:
Transcriptomic profiling reveals similarities between equine IVF and ICSI embryos.
Authors:
Broothaers K; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Klaartje.broothaers@ugent.be., Jouneau A; Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INRAE, BREED, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France; Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, BREED, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France. Electronic address: Alice.jouneau@inrae.fr., Angel-Velez D; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium; School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad CES, Medellin, Colombia. Electronic address: Daniel.angelvelez@ugent.be., De Coster T; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Tine.decoster@ugent.be., Festuccia N; Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR3738, Epigenomics, Proliferation, and the Identity of Cells Unit, France. Electronic address: Nicola.festuccia@pasteur.fr., Archilla C; Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INRAE, BREED, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France; Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, BREED, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France. Electronic address: Catherine.archilla@inrae.fr., Calderari S; Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INRAE, BREED, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France; Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, BREED, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France. Electronic address: Sophie.calderari@inrae.fr., Jouneau L; Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INRAE, BREED, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France; Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, BREED, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France. Electronic address: Luc.jouneau@inrae.fr., Van den Branden E; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Emma.vandenbranden@ugent.be., Peere S; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Sofie.peere@ugent.be., Polfliet E; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Ellen.polfliet@ugent.be., Dewulf M; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Manon.dewulf@ugent.be., Govaere J; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Jan.govaere@ugent.be., Chavatte-Palmer P; Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, INRAE, BREED, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France; Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, BREED, 94700, Maisons-Alfort, France. Electronic address: Pascale.chavatte-palmer@inrae.fr., Smits K; Department of Internal Medicine, Reproduction and Population Medicine, ReproGenT, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: Katrien.smits@ugent.be.
Source:
Theriogenology [Theriogenology] 2026 Feb 01; Vol. 251, pp. 117749. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Nov 08.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0421510 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-3231 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 0093691X NLM ISO Abbreviation: Theriogenology Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Publication: [New York, N.Y.?] : Elsevier
Original Publication: Los Altos, Calif., Geron-X.
MeSH Terms:
Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic*/veterinary , Fertilization in Vitro*/veterinary , Gene Expression Profiling*/veterinary , Transcriptome*, Animals ; Horses/embryology ; Female ; Blastocyst/physiology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Embryo, Mammalian ; Embryonic Development ; Male
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: Embryo; FLASH-seq; Fertilization; Horse; IVP; Transcriptome
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20251114 Date Completed: 20251124 Latest Revision: 20251124
Update Code:
20260130
DOI:
10.1016/j.theriogenology.2025.117749
PMID:
41237435
Database:
MEDLINE

*Further Information*

*In vitro production of equine embryos has been performed using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for the last two decades. Since 2022, a repeatable protocol for conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) provides a successful alternative. However, little is known about the influence of the fertilization method on embryo quality and the transcriptomic profile. In this study, we aimed to examine differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ICSI and IVF embryos in the horse. Therefore, ten equine sibling blastocysts, produced in vitro by either ICSI or IVF from three different mares, were subjected to Full-Length Single-Cell RNA-Sequencing (FLASH-sequencing). As such, 11,518 genes were identified, with no DEGs between ICSI and IVF embryos. Cleavage rates, calculated on collected COCs, of IVF zygotes (55.0 %) were similar to those of ICSI zygotes (51.9 %; P = 0.74), but blastocyst rates were higher following ICSI (37.0 % vs 22.5 % calculated on collected COCs and 71.4 % vs 40.9 % calculated on cleaved zygotes; P = 0.04 and 0.004, respectively). The average day of blastocyst development did not differ (P = 0.55). In conclusion, gene expression was similar for the two fertilization techniques, supporting the safety of equine IVF for further clinical studies. Overall, the horse provides a valuable model to study long-term effects of assisted reproductive technologies with potential extrapolation to human medicine.
(Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)*

*Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Klaartje Broothaers reports financial support was provided by INRAE BREED. Klaartje Broothaers reports financial support was provided by Ghent University. Klaartje Broothaers reports a relationship with Ghent University that includes: employment, funding grants, and non-financial support. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.*