BACKGROUND Folliculogenesis within the ovary requires interaction between somatic cell components and the oocyte. Maintenance of 3-dimensional (3-D) architecture and granulosa-oocyte interaction may be critical for successful in vitro maturation of follicles. Testing of novel biomaterials for the 3-D culture of follicles may ultimately lead to a culture model that can support the longer in vitr...

The in vivo function and phenotype of ovarian follicle cells are determined by many factors. When these cells are removed from the in vivo microenvironment and grown in a 2D in vitro environment, the function of the follicular cells is difficult to preserve. A collagen hydrogel was used to examine the hormone and oocyte maturation of ovary follicles in a 3D culture system. Ovarian follicles fro...

Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue and in vitro follicle maturation are two emerging techniques for fertility preservation, especially in cancer patients. These treatment regimes are opening up more options and allow for more suitable choices to preserve fertility according to the patient's specific circumstances. If these technologies are to become widely accepted, they need to be safe, easy t...

Oocyte cytoplasmic maturation is influenced by the quantity of synthesized RNA and proteins accumulated and stored during growth. Transcriptional repression and degradation of transcripts occur during oocyte nuclear maturation, and prolonged transcriptional arrest might compromise RNA stores for early development. RNA quantification of key genes in oocytes might be valuable when setting up in v...

AIMS This study aims to clarify the effects of polyadenylation status on M-phase promoting factors (MPFs) during in vitro porcine oocyte maturation. METHODS In this study, porcine follicular oocytes from large follicles (> 5 millimeter (mm)) and small follicles (< 3 mm) were examined at different follicular developmental stages. The polyadenylation of maternal mRNAs was inhibited by the addit...

With final maturation of ovarian follicles, birds are committed to a major energetic investment: egg laying. Follicles develop in a 2-step process: 1) initial development of regressed follicles stimulated by long days and 2) yolk incorporation into hierarchical follicles, ovulation, and oviposition. We know little about how females transduce environmental cues into neuroendocrine signals regula...

The Drosophila melanogaster ovarian follicle cell lineage provides a powerful system for investigating how epigenetic changes contribute to differentiation. Downstream from an epithelial stem cell, follicle progenitors undergo nine mitotic cell cycles before transitioning to the endocycle and initiating differentiation. During their proliferative phase, follicle progenitors experience Lsd1-depe...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the influence of ovarian follicular dominance on the outcome of oocyte in-vitro maturation. METHODS This retrospective cohort study included 21 patients with polycystic ovaries or polycystic ovary syndrome (Rotterdam criteria, 2004) subjected to 24 invitro maturation (IVM) cycles between October 2015 and January 2017. Patients undergoing IVM received minimal gonadotropin...

We have previously demonstrated that activin is likely an ovarian mediator of pituitary gonadotropin(s) and local epidermal growth factor in their stimulating oocyte maturation and maturational competence in the zebrafish. However, the downstream events controlled by activin remain unknown. One possible mechanism is that activin may directly work on the oocytes to promote the development of ooc...