The purpose of this study was to determine effects of oxytocin and interleukin-1α on in vitro development of bovine embryo cultured with endometrial epithelial and stromal cells isolated from bovine uterus. The expressions of COX-2 mRNA in bovine endometrium were also studied. When embryos were cultured with epithelial cells, the rate of blastocysts was significantly (p<0.05) higher in embryos treated with oxytocin than that of control group. The rate of hatched blastocysts was also significantly (p<0.05) higher in embryos treated with oxytocin than those of two control groups. On the other hand, when the embryos were cultured with stromal cells, the rate of blastocysts were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of groups treated with IL-1α, oxytocin and control with stromal cells than that of control group without stromal cells. The rate of blastocysts hatched were also significantly (p<0.05) higher in group treated with IL-1α than those of control group without stromal cells and oxytocin group. In another experiment, COX-2 gene was expressed in embryo group treated with oxytocin during the co-culture of embryos with epithelial cells. In contrast, COX-2 mRNA was expressed in group treated with IL-1α when the embryos were cultured with stromal cell. This result shows that oxytocin and IL-1α were stimulate embryo development in vitro when embryos were cultured with epithelial and stromal cells, and can affect the development of bovine embryos in the uterus.

Objectives : The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Loranthus parasiticus Merr. on cell cycle and expression of related genes in HepG2 cells. Methods : The MTT assay, cell counting assay, [3H]-Thymidine incorporation assay, flow cytometric analysis, quantitative RT-PCR and western blot assay were studied. Results : In the water extract of Loranthus parasiticus Merr., inhibition of cell proliferation and DNA synthesis in HepG2 cells was seen. These inhibitory effects were due to inhibition of G1-S transition in cell cycle. After treatment with the extract, expression of cyclin D1(G1 check point related gene) was inhibited particularly in dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. Conclusion : These results suggest that the inhibition of cell cycle progression by Loranthus parasiticus Merr. in HepG2 cell is due to suppression of cyclin D1(G1 check point related gene) mRNA expression and protein synthesis.