The 9-Cis Retinoic Acid Signaling Pathway and Its Regulation of Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthase 2 During In Vitro Maturation of Pig Cumulus Cell-Oocyte Complexes and Effects on Parthenogenetic Embryo Production

Atikuzzaman, M.,Koo, O.J.,Kang, J.T.,Kwon, D.K.,Park, S.J.,Kim, S.J.,Gomez, M.N.L.,Oh, H.J.,Hong, S.G.,Jang, G. SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF REPRODUCTION 2011 BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION Vol.84 No.6

Beyond Random Noise: Investigating Alternative Initialization Strategies for Dataset Condensation

Md Atikuzzaman,Sung-Ho Bae 한국방송·미디어공학회 2024 한국방송미디어공학회 학술발표대회 논문집 Vol.2024 No.6

Dataset condensation techniques aim to create smaller, representative subsets of larger datasets while preserving essential information. While random noise or random real images are commonly used for initialization, their effectiveness is limited. In this study, we explore alternative initialization strategies for dataset condensation, such as GAN-generated images, diffusion model- generated images, and K-Center images. These methods are compared with random real initialization through a comprehensive analysis using benchmark datasets. Our evaluation focuses on how initialization impacts condensation performance metrics, specifically testing accuracy after training models from scratch using the condensed data. The findings highlight the importance of informed initialization and provide insights for optimizing dataset condensation techniques. Notably, while K-Center initialization yields the best performance, pre-trained GAN or diffusion model-generated image initialization also demonstrates good performance compared to random real or random noise initialization.

Accelerating and Diversifying Diffusion Sampling with Grayscale Diffusion and GAN-Based Colorization

Md Atikuzzaman,Sung-Ho Bae 한국방송·미디어공학회 2024 한국방송미디어공학회 학술발표대회 논문집 Vol.2024 No.6

Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of the Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Model (DDPM) for various computer vision tasks. While DDPM offers advantages over other techniques such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), it is hampered by slow sampling speeds, which limit its practical applications. To address this limitation, we propose a unique framework that processes images in grayscale during the diffusion process, thereby reducing computational costs. Additionally, we integrate a colorization technique to restore color, transforming the grayscale diffusion model generated images back into vibrant RGB images. By combining the superior sampling quality of DDPM with the efficiency of grayscale processing and subsequent colorization, our method aims to overcome the sampling speed barrier, making DDPM more practical for a wide range of computer vision tasks. This approach offers an optimal compromise between image quality and computational speed, paving the way for fast sampling and large-scale image generation ventures. Our method can be used as a plug-and-play module with any existing diffusion model. Notably, our method performs three times faster than classic DDPM for the CelebA dataset.

Role of cumulus cells under different oxygen tension in porcine IVM

Jung-Taek Kang,Mohammad Atikuzzaman,Dae-Kee Kwon,Sol-Ji Park,Su-Jin Kim,Ninia Gomez,Ok-Jae Koo,Goo Jang,Byeong-Chun Lee 한국발생생물학회 2010 한국발생생물학회 학술발표대회 Vol.29 No.-

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of oxygen tension during in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes on the nuclear maturation and differences in gene expression. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected from ovaries obtained at a local slaughterhouse, matured for 44 hours in TCM199 supplemented with porcine follicular fluid (pFF) under 5% or 20% oxygen concentration. In results, oxygen tension had no significant effects on nuclear maturation. Relative poly(A) mRNA abundance of MnSOD, CCNB1, LDHA, G6PD, BCL, GPX1, IGFR2, GLUT1, BAX, GREM, PTGS2 was analysed in cumulus cells. GLUT1, G6PD, LDHA were up-regulated in the cumulus cells matured in low oxygen, suggesting a higher glucose uptake and an increase in anaerobic glycolysis, whereas CCNB, MnSOD were up-regulated in the cumulus cells matured in high oxygen, which suggest a higher activity of mitosis-promoting factor and antioxidant response. In conclusion, cumulus cells increase in glucose metabolism via anaerobic glycolysis under low oxygen concentration and show significant change in antioxidant against oxidant damage or apoptotic response under high oxygen concentration. For such an effect of cumulus cells, oocytes could be matured normally regardless of various oxygen concentration.

Developmental competence of porcine oocytes after <i>in vitro</i> maturation and <i>in vitro</i> culture under different oxygen concentrations

Kang, Jung-Taek,Atikuzzaman, Mohammad,Kwon, Dae-Kee,Park, Sol-Ji,Kim, Su-Jin,Moon, Joon-Ho,Koo, Ok-Jae,Jang, Goo,Lee, Byeong-Chun Cambridge University Press 2012 Zygote Vol.20 No.1

<B>Summary</B><P>In this study, we investigated the effect of two oxygen concentrations (5 and 20%) during <I>in vitro</I> maturation (IVM) and during <I>in vitro</I> culture (IVC) on porcine embryo development and analysed differences in gene expression between cumulus-oocyte complexes matured under 5 or 20% oxygen and the resulting blastocysts cultured under 5% or 20% oxygen following parthenogenetic activation. There was no significant difference in oocyte maturation rate. However, the numbers of resulting blastocysts were significantly increased in the 5% IVC group compared with the 20% IVC group. Moreover, the M20C5 treatment group (23.01%) supported greater blastocyst development compared with the M5C5 (14.32%), M5C20 (10.30%), and M20C20 (17.88%) groups. However, total cell numbers were not significantly different among groups. According to mRNA abundance data of multiple genes, each treatment altered the expression of genes in different patterns. GLUT1, G6PD and LDHA were up-regulated in cumulus cells that had been matured in low oxygen, suggesting a higher glucose uptake and an increase in anaerobic glycolysis, whereas cyclin B1 (CCNB) and MnSOD (Mn-superoxide dismutase) were upregulated in cumulus cells that had been matured in high oxygen, which suggests a higher activity of mitosis-promoting factor and antioxidant response. In spite of these differential effects on cumulus cells, oocytes could mature normally regardless of different oxygen concentrations. Therefore, it can be concluded that high oxygen concentration during <I>in vitro</I> maturation and low oxygen during <I>in vitro</I> culture may alter the expression of multiple genes related to oocyte competence and significantly improves embryo development (<I>p</I> < 0.05) but not blastocyst quality.</P>

342 EFFECTS OF MELATONIN ON PREIMPLANTATION DEVELOPMENT OF PORCINE PARTHENOGENETIC EMBRYOS

Kang, J.-T.,Koo, O.-J.,Kwon, D.-K.,Park, S.-J.,Atikuzzaman, M.,Gomez, N.,Jang, G.,Lee, B.-C. CSIRO Publishing 2010 Reproduction, fertility, and development Vol.22 No.1

<P> In mammalian species, melatonin is a multi-functional pineal gland hormone that regulates several circadian and seasonal rhythms including reproduction. However, the melatonin study was not common as to the oocytes in the pig. Recently, we reported that exogenous melatonin has beneficial effects on nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation during porcine oocyte IVM and we also reported an existence of melatonin receptor on the cumulus cells and granulose cells (Kang JT et al. 2009 J. Pineal Res. 46(1), 22-28). In this study, as adding further experiments rather than our previous study, we investigated effect of exogeneous melatonin (10 ng mL-1) on the porcine oocytes and analyzed possible factors which can be responsible for that results. Oocytes were recovered by aspiration of slaughterhouse ovaries, and then matured in TCM-199 supplemented with EGF, insulin, pyruvate, cystine, and gonadotropin. Expression of apoptosis-related genes mRNA in oocytes cultured with melatonin were evaluated by real-time PCR (Exp 1), cumulus cell expansion on COC was assessed on the microscopes during in vitro maturation (Exp 2), and developmental effects between melatonin treatement group and non-treatment group on the in vitro culture of parthenogenetically activated oocytes was investigated (Exp 3). In results, oocytes matured with melatonin were assessed for the expression of apoptosis-related genes Bcl-xl (anti-apoptotic gene) and Bax (proapoptotic gene) by real-time quantitative PCR. Analysis of data showed that the expression of Bcl-xl was higher compared to the control while the expression of Bax was decreased relative to the control (P < 0.05). Cumulus cell expansion was evaluated under a stereomicroscope at 22 h, 44 h during IVM. Representative photomicrographs of porcine COC at the start of the IVM, after 22 h and 44 h treatment with melatonin, are shown in Figure. After 22 h of melatonin treatment, cumulus cells were visually expanded compared with non-treatment group. We analyzed significantly greater proportion of parthenogenetically activated oocytes developed to blastocyst when the IVM medium was supplemented with melatonin. Melatonin treatment in the IVM has consequently beneficial effect on the blastocyst formation rates on the development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos (15.4%) compared to non-treatment group (10.7%, P < 0.05). However, cleavage frequency was not affectedby the treatment. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that melatonin had a beneficial effect on the development of parthenogenetically activated porcine embryos, probably through decreased apoptosis rate and increased cumulus cell expansion. This study was supported by Korean MKE, MEST (BK21 program), and Hanhwa L&C </P>

Short-term treatment with 6-DMAP and demecolcine improves developmental competence of electrically or Thi/DTT-activated porcine parthenogenetic embryos

Park, Sol Ji,Koo, Ok Jae,Kwon, Dae Kee,Gomez, Ma Ninia Limas,Kang, Jung Taek,Atikuzzaman, Mohammad,Kim, Su Jin,Jang, Goo,Lee, Byeong Chun Cambridge University Press 2011 Zygote Vol.19 No.1

<B>Summary</B><P>Treatment with 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP) or demecolcine (DE) for several (at least 2) hours after artificial activation is known to improve <I>in vitro</I> development of porcine embryos. However, several reports have also shown that treatments with these chemicals induce apoptosis. The aim of this study was to find out whether short-term treatment with 6-DMAP and DE combined with electrical or thimerosal/dithiothreitol (Thi/DTT) activation had a beneficial effect on development of parthenogenetically activated porcine oocytes. We additionally treated embryos with 6-DMAP (2 mM) and/or DE (0.4 μg/ml) for a short time (40 min) after an electrical pulse (EP) or Thi/DTT. As a result, short-term treatment with 6-DMAP and DE successfully induced development of electrically or Thi/DTT-activated porcine parthenogenetic embryos with no significant difference in cleavage rate, blastocyst formation rate and total cell number compared with long-term treatment. To find optimal activation protocol, cleavage rate, blastocyst formation rate and total cell number were compared between EP and Thi/DTT treatments. Thi/DTT + 6-DMAP + DE showed significantly higher blastocyst formation rate (36.1 ± 3.5%) and total cell number (46.9 ± 1.0) than other groups (EP + 6-DMAP + DE, EP + Thi/DTT + 6-DMAP + DE: 23.3 ± 3.0%, 42.2 ± 1.1 and 17.2 ± 2.7%, 36.7 ± 1.5, respectively). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that short-term treatment with 6-DMAP and DE is as effective as the standard long-term treatment and Thi/DTT + 6-DMAP + DE exerts a synergistic effect.</P>

Effect of Transgenic Expression of Human Antioxidant Gene in Fibroblasts Derived from Transgenic Miniature Pig

Ok Jae Koo,Jung Taek Kang,Hee Jung Park,Dae Kee Kwon,Sol Ji Park,Su Jin Kim,Mohammad Atikuzzaman,Ma. Ninia Gomez,Goo Jang,Byeong chun Lee 한국동물생명공학회(구 한국동물번식학회) 2009 발생공학 국제심포지엄 및 학술대회 Vol.2009 No.1

Blastocysts derived from adult fibroblasts of a rhesus monkey (<i>Macaca mulatta</i>) using interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer

Kwon, Dae Kee,Kang, Jung Taek,Park, Sol Ji,Gomez, Ma Ninia Limas,Kim, Su Jin,Atikuzzaman, Mohammad,Koo, Ok Jae,Jang, Goo,Lee, Byeong Chun Cambridge University Press 2011 Zygote Vol.19 No.3

<B>Summary</B><P>In non-human primates, it is difficult to collect sufficient numbers of oocytes for producing identical embryos by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Because of this factor, inter-species SCNT (iSCNT) using heterospecific oocytes is an attractive alternative approach. The objective of this study was to produce iSCNT-derived blastocysts using enucleated cow (<I>Bos taurus</I>) metaphase II oocytes and adult rhesus monkey (<I>Macaca mulatta</I>) fibroblasts. Ear skin tissue from a 6-year-old male rhesus monkey was collected by biopsy and fibroblasts were isolated. Immature cumulus-oocyte complexes from cow ovaries were collected and matured <I>in vitro</I> in Medium 199. The enucleated oocytes were reconstructed with rhesus monkey fibroblasts and iSCNT embryos were cultured in modified synthetic oviduct fluid in an atmosphere of 5-5.5% CO2 under various conditions (37-39 °C and 5-20% O2) to examine the effects of <I>in vitro</I> culture conditions. Most embryos were arrested at the 8- or 16-cell stage and only three blastocysts were derived in this way using iSCNT from a total of 1153 cultured activated embryos (0.26% production rate). Two of the three blastocysts were used for counting nuclear numbers using bisbenzimide staining, which were 51 and 24. The other iSCNT-derived blastocyst was used to analyse mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by PCR, and both rhesus monkey and cow mtDNA were detected. Although the development rate was extremely low, this study established that iSCNT using two phylogenetically distant species, including a primate, could produce blastocysts. With improvements in the development rate, it may be possible to produce rhesus monkey iSCNT-derived embryonic stem cell lines for studies on primate nucleus and cow mitochondria interaction mechanisms.</P>

Replacement of glutamine with the dipeptide derivative alanyl-glutamine enhances <i>in vitro</i> maturation of porcine oocytes and development of embryos

Kim, Su Jin,Koo, Ok Jae,Kwon, Dae Kee,Kang, Jung Taek,Park, Sol Ji,Gomez, Ma Ninia,Atikuzzaman, Mohammad,Jang, Goo,Lee, Byeong-Chun Cambridge University Press 2014 Zygote Vol.22 No.2

<B>Summary</B><P>The presence of glutamine (Gln) in <I>in vitro</I> maturation (IVM) and <I>in vitro</I> culture (IVC) medium is a more potent factor for improving porcine oocyte and embryo development than other amino acids. However Gln is inherently unstable and spontaneously breaks down into ammonia, and therefore interferes with proper development. To avoid this adverse effect, Gln was replaced in the present study with its stable dipeptide derivative alanyl-glutamine (Ala-Gln) and the effects of this replacement on porcine IVM and IVC were evaluated. Replacement of Gln with Ala-Gln during IVM did not improve nuclear maturation, however numbers of early cleaved embryos were significantly increased after activation. Blastocyst formation rates were also significantly improved by using Ala-Gln during IVM. Replacement of Gln with Ala-Gln during IVC significantly increased total cell numbers in blastocysts. Blastocyst formation rate was also significantly higher when Ala-Gln was used in both IVM and IVC. In conclusion, the use of Ala-Gln rather than Gln gives better results for development in both porcine IVM and IVC.</P>