Tudies [1] and are envisaged as a powerful source of pluripotent cells for differentiation into desirable tissue for regenerative medicine and cell therapy [2,3]. Despite the tremendous potential of ESCs, their handicap is the isolation method, as they are obtained from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, making the embryo unviable [4]. Parthenogenetic embryos are being studied as an MedChemExpress CTX-0294885 alternative source of ESCs, which would avoid ethical concerns related to destruction of the embryo [4,5]. ESCs derived from parthenogenetic embryos (pESCs) have been shown to differentiate into all cell types and functional organs in the body [6]. However, several studies have evaluated similarities and differences between parthenogenetic and conventional ESCs in pluripotency, karyotype, in vivo and in vitro differentiation ability and RNA expression levels in human, nonhuman primates and rabbit [1,2,3,5,7,8]. Generally, they present normal karyotypes and are similar in their undifferentiated state, expressing normal pluripotency markers, but present different transcriptomes, with different expression patterns of extracellular matrix proteins and methylation. In rabbit, ESCs lines from different origin have been derived and characterised [8,9]. Fang et al. [8] showed that ESCs derivedfrom fertilised, parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer embryos seem to be similar, in that all three types were able to give rise to cells and tissue types of the three primary germ layers when ESCs are cultured in vivo and in vitro. In this case, ESCs of parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer embryos were derived using the same protocol. However, the origin of the source of the cell line has important consequences [1]. Piedrahita et al. [10] showed that ESCs lines from mice and pigs derived with the same protocol have some similar characteristics, but not all. Under in vitro culture, parthenote embryos present altered mRNA expression patterns, while in vivo developed parthenotes seem to be similar to normal embryos for the expression of factor OCT-4, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 3 and Transforming Growth Factor b2 genes [11]. In fact, in parthenote embryos the maximum development reached in all mammals species has been reported when embryos were transferred to subrogate females in early stages of development, providing a large in vivo culture. In the present work, we employed a microarray to characterise transcriptome differences between 6-day parthenote embryos and 6-day fertilised blastocysts developed in vivo. In addition, based on the list of candidate genes CP-868596 web identified by microarray, we studied the expression levels of selected transcripts in the parthenotes and fertilised blastocyst derived in vivo and checked this list with a database of genes previously listed as imprinted, while alsoTranscriptome of In Vivo Parthenote Blastocystsreporting the identification of putative imprinted genes in rabbit blastocysts.Oviductal transfer by laparoscopyPresumptive 1379592 parthenotes were transferred by laparoscopy into oviducts of 13 synchronised receptive does just after activation, whose ovulation was induced as previously described [12,13]. About 28 activated oocytes per doe were transferred. Receptive does were anaesthetised by an intramuscular injection of 16 mg xylazine (Rompun; Bayern AG, Leverkusen, Germany), followed by an intravenous injection of ketamine hydrochloride at the rate of 25 mg/kg body weight (Imalgene 1000; Merial S.A, Lyon, Fra.Tudies [1] and are envisaged as a powerful source of pluripotent cells for differentiation into desirable tissue for regenerative medicine and cell therapy [2,3]. Despite the tremendous potential of ESCs, their handicap is the isolation method, as they are obtained from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, making the embryo unviable [4]. Parthenogenetic embryos are being studied as an alternative source of ESCs, which would avoid ethical concerns related to destruction of the embryo [4,5]. ESCs derived from parthenogenetic embryos (pESCs) have been shown to differentiate into all cell types and functional organs in the body [6]. However, several studies have evaluated similarities and differences between parthenogenetic and conventional ESCs in pluripotency, karyotype, in vivo and in vitro differentiation ability and RNA expression levels in human, nonhuman primates and rabbit [1,2,3,5,7,8]. Generally, they present normal karyotypes and are similar in their undifferentiated state, expressing normal pluripotency markers, but present different transcriptomes, with different expression patterns of extracellular matrix proteins and methylation. In rabbit, ESCs lines from different origin have been derived and characterised [8,9]. Fang et al. [8] showed that ESCs derivedfrom fertilised, parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer embryos seem to be similar, in that all three types were able to give rise to cells and tissue types of the three primary germ layers when ESCs are cultured in vivo and in vitro. In this case, ESCs of parthenogenetic and nuclear transfer embryos were derived using the same protocol. However, the origin of the source of the cell line has important consequences [1]. Piedrahita et al. [10] showed that ESCs lines from mice and pigs derived with the same protocol have some similar characteristics, but not all. Under in vitro culture, parthenote embryos present altered mRNA expression patterns, while in vivo developed parthenotes seem to be similar to normal embryos for the expression of factor OCT-4, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 3 and Transforming Growth Factor b2 genes [11]. In fact, in parthenote embryos the maximum development reached in all mammals species has been reported when embryos were transferred to subrogate females in early stages of development, providing a large in vivo culture. In the present work, we employed a microarray to characterise transcriptome differences between 6-day parthenote embryos and 6-day fertilised blastocysts developed in vivo. In addition, based on the list of candidate genes identified by microarray, we studied the expression levels of selected transcripts in the parthenotes and fertilised blastocyst derived in vivo and checked this list with a database of genes previously listed as imprinted, while alsoTranscriptome of In Vivo Parthenote Blastocystsreporting the identification of putative imprinted genes in rabbit blastocysts.Oviductal transfer by laparoscopyPresumptive 1379592 parthenotes were transferred by laparoscopy into oviducts of 13 synchronised receptive does just after activation, whose ovulation was induced as previously described [12,13]. About 28 activated oocytes per doe were transferred. Receptive does were anaesthetised by an intramuscular injection of 16 mg xylazine (Rompun; Bayern AG, Leverkusen, Germany), followed by an intravenous injection of ketamine hydrochloride at the rate of 25 mg/kg body weight (Imalgene 1000; Merial S.A, Lyon, Fra.
