The transcriptome of a human polar body accurately reflects its sibling oocyte.

Detection of oocyte mRNA in starfish polar bodies.

Oogenesis is a conserved process that requires gene transcription and storage of RNA for development until the embryonic genome is activated (Evsikov andEviskov, 2009). Analysis of oocyte mRNA profiles detected in polar bodies may allow evaluationof geneexpression in single oocyteswithout destroying the cell. Here we demonstrate the detection of such oocyte mRNA in its sibling polar body. We bi...

The double-edged sword of the mammalian oocyte--advantages, drawbacks and approaches for basic and clinical analysis at the single cell level.

Oocytes are usually the largest cells in the body and as such offer unique opportunities for single-cell analysis. Unfortunately, these cells are also some of the rarest in the mammalian female, usually necessitating single-cell analysis. In cases of infertility in humans, determining the quality of the oocyte is often restricted to a morphological analysis or to the study of cellular behaviors...

Evaluating the Role of First Polar Body Morphologyon Rates of Fertilization and Embryo Development inICSI Cycles

I-18: The Role of Sex Chromosomes in Female Germ Cell Differentiation

Background When gonadal sex reversal occurs in mammalian species, the resultant XX males and XY females become infertile or subfertile, suggesting critical roles of sex chromosomes in germ cell differentiation. The objective of our study is to clarify the mechanism of infertility in the B6.YTIR (XY) sex-reversed female mouse, which can be attributed to a failure in the second meiotic division i...

Detection and quantification of mRNA in single human polar bodies: a minimally invasive test of gene expression during oogenesis.

Proteins and mRNA produced in oogenesis support embryonic development until the zygotic transition, 3 days after fertilization. Since polar bodies can be biopsied with little if any harm to the oocyte, we tested the hypothesis that mRNA originating from expression in the meiotic oocyte is present and detectable in a single polar body prior to insemination. Human oocytes were obtained from patie...