Birth of pups after transfer of mouse embryos derived from vitrified preantral follicles

Preantral follicles mechanically isolated from the ovaries of 12-day-old mice were exposed to 2 mol ethylene glycol l(-1) for 2 or 5 min and then to a vitrification solution containing 6 mol ethylene glycol l(-1) and 0.3 mol raffinose l(-1) for 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 min before vitrification. The vitrified and fresh preantral follicles were treated with collagenase, and the oocyte-granulosa cell complexes (OGCs) obtained were cultured in vitro for 10 days in membrane inserts. Preantral follicles exposed to 2 mol ethylene glycol l(-1) for 5 min and then to the vitrification solution for 0.5 or 1.0 min showed the highest survival rates after warming. The follicular loss after warming was approximately 20%. After in vitro culture, the proportion of viable OGCs from the vitrified follicles was 10% lower than that of the fresh preantral follicles. There were no differences in the rates of maturation, fertilization and subsequent development to blastocysts between the oocytes derived from vitrified follicles and those derived from fresh preantral follicles; however, the developmental competence of the oocytes derived from both vitrified and fresh preantral follicles grown in vitro was lower than that of oocytes grown in vivo. One of the five recipient mice that received 20 blastocysts derived from vitrified preantral follicles gave birth to six live pups. The results of the present study demonstrate for the first time that mouse preantral follicles can be vitrified and that some of the embryos derived from vitrified preantral follicles can develop to live pups.