a:4:{s:10:"Background";s:513:"Therapeutic potential of in vitro maturation (IVM) in infertility is growing with great promise. Although significant progress is obtained in recent years, existing IVM protocols are far from favorable results. The first aim of this study was to investigate whether two step IVM manner change reactive oxygen species (ROS) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels....

Oogenesis and folliculogenesis are dynamic processes that are regulated by endocrine, paracrine and autocrine signals. These signals are exchanged between the oocyte and the somatic cells of the follicle. Here we analyzed the role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an important regulator of cellular energy homeostasis, by using transgenic mice deficient in α1AMPK specifically in the oocyte...

Background Poly cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is known as a common endocrine disorder in women at reproductive ages and may cause developmental abnormality in oocyte. ERK has found as a regulator protein of Gap junctions (GJ) function and the level of exchanges between two neighbors cells, for example oocyte and surrounding cumulus cells (CCs) in the mammalian ovary. Such exchange is essential...

BACKGROUND A biochemical marker for embryo development would increase the chance of a successful pregnancy with IVF by optimizing oocyte and embryo selection, and allow fewer embryos to be transferred. In this study, we correlated cumulus granulosa cell gene expression of hyaluronic acid synthase 2 (HAS2), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2; PTGS2) and gremlin (GREM1) with subsequent embryo development in ...

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and oocyte-secreted factors influence granulosa cell differentiation and follicle development. Whereas FSH stimulates the expression of mural cell transcripts, oocyte-secreted factors regulate specific cumulus cell genes and suppress the appearance of mural cell transcripts. This study addresses the extent to which clinically relevant changes in FSH doses appl...

Although offspring have been produced from porcine oocytes vitrified at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage, the rate of embryo development remains low. In the present study, nuclear morphology and progression, cumulus expansion, transzonal projections (TZPs), ATP and glutathione (GSH) levels were compared between vitrified cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) and control COCs (no cryoprotectant treatme...

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are stable, lipophilic compounds that accumulate in the environment and in the food chain. Though some studies provided evidence that PCBs had adverse effects on reproductive function, most of these results were from in vitro models. Therefore we investigated the effect of Aroclor 1254 (a commercial PCBs mixture) treatments on in vivo maturation and developmenta...

BACKGROUND The complex relationship between oocyte morphology, specific follicular fluid metabolites, gene expression in cumulus granulosa cells, and oocyte competence toward fertilization and embryo development still needs further clarification. METHODS Forty-six oocytes retrieved from the largest pre-ovulatory follicle of patients undergoing intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) were con...