Assisted reproduction technologies for clinical and research purposes rely on a brief in vitro embryo culture which, despite decades of progress, remain suboptimal in comparison to the physiological environment. One promising tool to improve this technique is the development of bespoke microfluidic chambers. Here we present and validate a new microfluidic device in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for the culture of early mouse embryos. Device material and design resulted embryo compatible and elicit minimal stress. Blastocyst formation, hatching, attachment and outgrowth formation on fibronectin-coated devices were similar to traditional microdrop methods. Total blastocyst cell number and allocation to the trophectoderm and inner cell mass lineages were unaffected. The devices were designed for culture of 10–12 embryos. Development rates, mitochondrial polarization and metabolic turnover of key energy substrates glucose, pyruvate and lactate were consistent with groups of 10 embryos in microdrop controls. Increasing group size to 40 embryos per device was associated with increased variation in development rates and altered metabolism. Device culture did not perturb blastocyst gene expression but did elicit changes in embryo metabolome, which can be ascribed to substrate leaching from PDMS and warrant further investigation.

中文翻译：

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探索微流体装置中体外胚胎发育的形态学、遗传和代谢组学变化

用于临床和研究目的的辅助生殖技术依赖于短暂的体外胚胎培养，尽管已经取得了数十年的进步，但与生理环境相比仍然不够理想。改进这项技术的一个有前途的工具是开发定制的微流体室。在这里，我们展示并验证了一种新的聚二甲基硅氧烷 (PDMS) 微流体装置，用于培养早期小鼠胚胎。设备材料和设计使胚胎兼容并引起最小的压力。纤连蛋白涂层装置上的囊胚形成、孵化、附着和生长形成与传统的微滴方法相似。总囊胚细胞数量和分配到滋养外胚层和内细胞群谱系不受影响。这些设备设计用于培养 10-12 个胚胎。发展速度，关键能量底物葡萄糖、丙酮酸和乳酸的线粒体极化和代谢周转与微滴对照中的 10 个胚胎组一致。将组大小增加到每个设备 40 个胚胎与发育率的变化增加和新陈代谢的改变有关。设备培养不会干扰胚泡基因表达，但会引起胚胎代谢组的变化，这可归因于 PDMS 的底物浸出，需要进一步研究。