Paracrine factors secreted by the oocyte regulate a broad range of cumulus cell functions. Characteristically, cumulus cells have a low incidence of apoptosis and we proposed that this is due to oocyte-secreted factors acting in an anti-apoptotic manner. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) were aspirated from abattoir-derived ovaries and oocytectomized (OOX) by microsurgical removal of the oo...

Background: The majority of thousands of oocytes in the ovaries are small, non-growing and reside in preantral follicles (PFs). The development of a culture system for preantral follicle may be very useful for understanding the complex mechanism in folliculogenesis at early stages of development as wells as could offer a significant way for the propagation of livestock, including goats. This pa...

Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) plays a critical role in ovarian follicular development and ovulation rate. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the GDF9 gene and reproductive performance variables, such as fertility and sterility in Awassi sheep. Forty pairs of ovaries from a total of 40 slaughtered Iraqi Awa...

the fecb, a mutation in the bone morphogenetic protein receptor ib (bmpr-ib) gene, which increases the fecundity of booroola merino sheep, and fecgh, a mutation in the growth and differentiation factor 9 (gdf9), which affects the fecundity of cambridge and belclare sheep in a dose sensitive manner, were analyzed as candidate genes associated with the prolificacy in rayini goats. these polymorph...

background: creation of artificial gametes may provide a universal solution for these patients of lacking gametes. stem cell technology may provide a way to obtain fully functional gametes. retinoic acid (ra) can initiate meiosis. several studies have demonstrated that ra can promote sperm cells differentiation from mouse embryonic stem cells (mescs) and other cells from human embryonic stem ce...