The aim of this study was to investigate the role of progesterone in the meiotic resumption of porcine oocytes. Progesterone production and progesterone receptor (PR) immunoreactivity in cumulus cells were not detected in porcine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) when observations were made either just after collection from the follicles or after 28 h cultivation without LH and FSH. However, the a...

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of Trichostatin A (TSA) on cumulus expansion during mouse oocyte maturation. TSA treatment inhibited cumulus expansion and significantly reduced the cumulus expansion index (CEI) (p<0.05). To determine the underlying mechanism, the expression levels of several key factors that play crucial roles in cumulus expansion including components of ext...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and estradiol 17-β (E2) in maturation medium on nuclear maturation and cumulus expansion of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) obtained from bovine ovaries. COCs were classified as good and poor quality grades based on cumulus investment. COCs were then su...

To acquiring high-quality embryos is crucial to the improvement of pregnancy rates for assisted reproductive technology (ART). But how to find a non-invasive approach to early embryo selection and improve the implantation rates from proteins in cumulus cells? Our previously study showed that acetyl-CoA acyltransferase 2 (ACAA2) protein and adenine-thymine (AT)-rich interactive domain-containing...

Adhesion between the oocyte-cumulus complex and infundibulum plays an important, but poorly understood, role in oocyte pick-up. The purposes of this study were to determine which components of the oocyte-cumulus complex and oviductal epithelium function in adhesion, to measure adhesion under physiological conditions, and to examine the effect of modulation of adhesion on oocyte-cumulus complex ...

The perivitelline space is the gap between the plasma membrane and the zona pellucida of the oocyte. Although not present in the oocytes in the germinal vesicle stage, the perivitelline space is known to start forming when meiotic maturation resumes and to enlarge in matured oocytes at the metaphase II stage (Kaufman et al., 1989; Okada et al., 1993). Recently, it has been suggested that there ...

Acquisition of oocyte developmental competence needs to be understood to improve clinical outcomes of assisted reproduction. The stimulation of cumulus cell concentration of cyclic adenosine 3'5'-monophosphate (cAMP) by pharmacological agents during in vitro maturation (IVM) participates in improvement of oocyte quality. However, precise coordination and downstream targets of cAMP signaling in ...

A metal (Ag, Au, Pd, Sn, Bi, In, Co, Al) layer directly deposited onto a liquid-crystalline lipid membrane resulted in different morphologies, ranging from a monolayer of discrete particles to a continuous film, depending on the metal's oxidation tendency.

Cell-secreted vesicles, such as exosomes, have recently been recognized as mediators of cell communication. A recent study in cattle showed the involvement of exosome-like vesicles in the control of cumulus expansion, a prerequisite process for normal ovulation; however, whether this is the case in other mammalian species is not known. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the presence of exos...