Mimicking the bovine oviduct in a microfluidic device for advanced embryo in vitro culture systems

Abstract

Here, we report a microfluidic device acting as an oviduct for in vitro fertilization of bovine oocytes followed by the embryo pre-implantation culture. The platform consists of two fluidic compartments separated by a porous membrane onto which oviduct epithelial cells are culture, to recapitulate the microniche found in the oviduct to which gametes and pre-implantation embryos are exposed. We demonstrate superior performance of this platform in terms of epigenetic patterns of in vitro produced embryos compared to conventional culture dishes.