Nuclear transfer procedures have been recently applied for clinical and research targets as a novel assisted reproductive technique and were used for increasing the oocyte activity during its growth and maturation. In this review, we summarized the nuclear transfer technique for germinal vesicle stage oocytes to reconstruct the maturation of them. Our study covered publications between 1966 and...

Starfish oocytes that are extracted from the ovaries are arrested at the prophase of the first meiotic division. At this stage of maturation, they are characterized by a large nucleus called the germinal vesicle. Meiosis resumption (maturation) can be induced in vitro by adding the hormone 1-methyladenine (1-MA) to the seawater in which the oocytes are suspended. Earlier work in our laboratory ...

Cell cycles in early amphibian embryos are characterized by the absence of G1 and G2 phases. The simple cycle of S phase and mitosis does show similarities with other systems, particularly in the presence of cytoplasmic components advancing nuclei into DNA synthesis and mitosis. Maturation-promoting factor induces nuclear envelope breakdown and subsequent chromosome condensation. Cytoplasmic fa...

Previously, we found that the growth arrest-specific gene 6 (Gas6) is more highly expressed in germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes than in metaphase II (MII) oocytes using annealing control primer (ACP)-PCR technology. The current study was undertaken to investigate the role of Gas6 in oocyte maturation and fertilization using RNA interference (RNAi). Interestingly, despite the specific and marked de...

In the presence of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, yeast DNA polymerase (Pol ) replicated DNA at a rate of 40–60 nt/s. When downstream double-stranded DNA was encountered, Pol paused, but most replication complexes proceeded to carry out strand-displacement synthesis at a rate of 1.5 nt/s. In the presence of the flap endonuclease FEN1 (Rad27), the complex carried out nick translation (1.7 n...

A key feature of maturation of dendritic cells is the down-regulation of antigen-processing and up-regulation of immunostimulatory capacities. To study the differential expression of transcription factors in this process, we investigated the nuclear translocation and DNA binding of Rel/NF-kappaB and octamer factors during in vitro generation and maturation of dendritic cells compared with macro...

Problem statement: Development of efficient culture system to support embryonic development would be valuable when quality of produced embryos was important. However, the rate of bovine embryo production in vitro was still lower than expected. Present study, including of three experiments, was carried out to investigate the effect of insulin on nuclear maturation and subsequent development of i...

The objective was to examine potential roles of glucose and pyruvate in nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of porcine oocytes. Oocyte-cumulus complexes (OCC), derived from 3 to 6mm follicles, were cultured in a chemically defined medium (pyruvate-free mNCSU37-PVA), with or without 5.55 mM glucose, during in vitro maturation (IVM); in the absence of glucose, germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and...

The success of early embryonic development depends on oocyte nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation. We have investigated whether glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) affects the in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes and their subsequent ability to sustain preimplantation embryo development. GDNF and both its coreceptors, GDNF family receptor alpha-1 (GFR alpha-1) and the rearr...

Surfactin has multiple immune activities, such as triggering immune-related defense responses and enhancing humoral and cellular immune responses. While, the mechanisms are still unclear. The maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) is essential for inducing downstream immune response. To shed light on the mechanisms of surfactin-induced immune activities, we verified the influences of surfactin on ...