Reduced glutathione alleviates tunicamycin-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress in mouse preimplantation embryos

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, a dysfunction in protein-folding capacity, is involved in many pathological and physiological responses, including embryonic development. This study aims to determine the developmental competence, apoptosis, and stress-induced gene expression in mouse preimplantation embryos grown in an in vitro culture medium supplemented with different concentrations of the ER stress inducer tunicamycin (TM) and the antioxidant glutathione (GSH). Treatment of zygotes with 0.5 µg/ml TM significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the rate of blastocyst formation, whereas 1 mM GSH supplementation improved the developmental rate of blastocysts. Furthermore, TM treatment significantly increased (P < 0.05) the apoptotic index and reduced the total number of cells, whereas GSH significantly increased the total number of cells and decreased the apoptotic index. The expression levels of ER chaperones, including immunoglobulin-binding protein, activating transcription factor 6, double-stranded activated protein kinase-like ER kinase, activating transcription factor 4, and C/EBP homologous protein were significantly increased (P < 0.05) by TM, but significantly decreased (P < 0.05) by GSH treatment. A similar pattern was observed in the case of the pro-apoptotic gene, B cell lymphoma-associated X protein. The expression level of the anti-apoptotic gene B cell lymphoma 2, was decreased by TM, but significantly increased after co-treatment with GSH. In conclusion, GSH improves the developmental potential of mouse embryos and significantly alleviates ER stress.