The use of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) for the application of pre-maturation system improves in vitro developmental competence from small follicles of porcine oocytes

We investigated how pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) affects on embryonic development during pre-in vitro maturation (pre-IVM) using porcine oocytes isolated from small follicles. We divided the follicles into the experimental groups by size (SF; small follicles, MF; medium follicles) and treated with and without PACAP and cultured for 18 hours [Pre-SF(-)PACAP; without PACAP, Pre-SF(+)PACAP; with PACAP] before undergoing in vitro maturation (IVM). The gene expression related to extracellular matrix formation (AREG, EREG and HAS2) and apoptosis (BAX, BCL-2 and CASPASE-3) was investigated after maturation. The impact on developmental competence was assessed by the cleavage and blastocyst rate and total cell number of blastocyst in embryos generated from parthenogenesis (PA) and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Cleavage rates in the Pre-SF(+)PACAP after PA were significantly higher than SF and Pre-SF(-)PACAP (p