Previous our studies have shown that CD44, the principal receptor for hyaluronan, is present on cumulus cells during oocyte maturation. Although hyaluronan-CD44 interaction has been implicated in cumulus expansion and/or oocyte maturation, the full significance of CD44 remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to further investigate the role of CD44 in cumulus expansion and oocyte...

OBJECTIVE In this study, we aimed to evaluate the influence of autologous cumulus oocyte complex (COC) coculture on embryonic development and quality, and investigate the implantation and pregnancy rates after cumulus-aided embryo transfer in the ICSI-ET cycles. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ninety five consecutive infertile women undergoing their first cycle of IVF teratment were included in the stud...

Optical detection of parts-per-million (ppm) levels of CO by a structurally well-defined monolayer consisting of bimetallic rhodium complexes on glass substrates has been demonstrated.

background: in vitro maturation (ivm) of oocytes is a promising technique to reduce the costs and avert the side-effects of gonadotropin stimulation for in vitro fertilization (ivf). the pregnancy rates from oocytes matured in vitro are much lower than those of in vivo stimulation cycles, indicating that optimization of ivm remains a challenge. objective: in this study, we investigated the effe...

The low-temperature deposition of Au and Pd atoms on thin SiO2 films grown on Mo(112) has been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, and CO adsorption. On the monolayer films, gold forms three-dimensional nanoparticles at temperatures as low as 10 K and does not affect the phonon spectra of the silica films. On the other hand, palladium exh...

Fatty acid oxidation is an important energy source for the oocyte; however, little is known about how this metabolic pathway is regulated in cumulus-oocyte complexes. Analysis of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation showed that many are regulated by the luteinizing hormone surge during in vivo maturation, including acyl-CoA synthetases, carnitine transporters, acyl-CoA dehydrogenases and acet...

Using the first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we study the effects of Co adatom on the electronic and magnetic properties of monolayer WS2. The calculations show that, for the high symmetry adsorption sites (Tw, H and Ts) on the surface of monolayer WS2, Co atom prefers Tw site. The p-d hybridization mechanism for the magnetism results in the splitting of the energy l...

BACKGROUND In the cow, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) acts as an auto-/paracrine factor, through its receptors LPAR1-4, on oocytes and cumulus cells during in vitro maturation (IVM). The aim of the present work was to determine the effect of LPA during IVM of bovine oocytes on: 1) oocyte maturation; 2) apoptosis of COCs; 3) expression of genes involved in developmental competence and apoptosis in ...

A differentially pumped, capillary array molecular beam source is used to study the reversible adsorption of CO on CO/Pd~111! @Q(CO)50.55# and vinylidene/Pd~111! @Q(vinylidene)51.0# at 300 K. Differentially pumping allows the beam to equilibrate rapidly ~in ;2 s! while maintaining good beam uniformity. The isosteric heat of adsorption of reversibly held CO on a surface precovered with 0.55 mono...

A better understanding of the paracrine and autocrine regulatory loops within the cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) is fundamental for the improvement of in vitro maturation (IVM) outcomes in humans and domestic species. This review presents the most important local regulators identified in the COC to date with special attention to those secreted by the oocyte and acting on cumulus cells, as well as...