Nanoembriologia: nanotecnologia, biotecnologia e a produção in vitro de embriões

Abstract

Nanobiotechnology is an area of nanotechnology that has much to contribute to the reproductive sciences. In addition to the diverse possibilities to assist in treatments and diagnostics in reproductive medicine, it provides alternatives for the in vitro embryo production (IVEP), and in this case, it is now known as nanoembryology. Nanoembryology has the potential to support problems that still remain around technologies of assisted reproduction in the human species, such as ovarian stimulation, multiple gestation and alternatives for couples with genetic problems. However, until nowadays, its main approach has been the search for an alternative to the optimization of the protocols through the supplementation of the media used during the IVEP in order to optimize the process in all the species that use of this biotechnique of the reproduction. In this paper, in addition to the proposal to use nanotechnology to solve problems related to reproductive medicine, a new approach to nanoembryology is described, in which resveratrol-loaded lipid core nanocapsules (LNC) are added to the in vitro maturation medium of bovine oocytes at different concentrations (0.5, 1 and 2 μM of the molecule). This strategy aims to potentiate the antioxidant effect that resveratrol has, increasing its bioavailability, solubility and light protection in a controlled delivery system. Cumulus cell expansion, oocyte maturation, and cell viability analyses demonstrate that the proposed treatments do not cause cytotoxicity to oocytes. The quantification of endogenous glutathione (GSH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) demonstrated a beneficial effect on the use of Res-LNC, which there was an increase in GSH synthesis in relation to the control groups, and a decrease in ROS production when 1 μM in relation to the unloaded nanocapsule. In addition to these results, this document presents the development of a device that aims to assist in the procedures of vitrification of oocytes and embryos. Vitrification is a method of cryopreservation that has shown excellent results, and this container becomes useful during this process, especially in the case of farm animals that have large amounts of structures to be cryopreserved in a fractional manner. Finally, it is concluded that the reproductive sciences still have many problems to be solved and the search for new alternatives and technologies can help in the development of processes in several species. Nanotechnology is one of the main areas to be explored and, therefore, new studies must emerge to validate their contribution to the processes related to IVEP.