Purine metabolism is known factor for nuclear maturation of oocytes through both follicle cells and oocyte itself. However, it is largely unknown the roles of purine metabolism in the oocyte competence for fertilization and early development. In this study, the effects of adenosine in oocyte competence for development were examined using adenosine and its synthetic inhibitors. Adenosine treatme...

The female infertility is a complex phenomenon that at least in part resides in the manifestation, possible perturbations and interplay of innate and adaptive immunity, with the participation of apoptotic and reactive oxygen species pathways, and some paracrine factors as causative and implementing factors in this process. The spread of the assisted reproduction technologies provided an unseen ...

Developmental competence of female gametes determines their maturation ability, successful fertilisation, and proper zygote formation. Oocyte quality may be assessed by expression profiling of several gene markers such as Cx43, TGFB, GDF9, BMP, Lox and Pdia5 that determine the biological features of oocytes. Conversely, several other extrinsic factors, including follicular size or heat shock ma...

Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the in vitro effects of physiologic concentration of adiponectin in follicular fluid of pre-ovulatory bovine ovarian follicles on: 1) the bovine oocyte maturation and the early developmental rates of bovine embryos in vitro; 2) the expression profiles of some developmentally important marker genes in the bovine cumulus cells and oocytes. Materi...

BACKGROUND Excessive nerve growth factor (NGF) is commonly found in the follicular fluid of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Furthermore, oocytes from PCOS patients exhibit lower developmental competence. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between excessive NGF and low oocyte competence in vitro. METHODS Excessive NGF was added to mouse cumulus oocyte comp...

Background: Oocyte cryopreservation is of utmost importance in the current repertories of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Despite this, oocyte vitrification is yet a problematic issue with limited successful pregnancies has been arisen after transfer of embryos derived from vitrified-warmed oocytes. In this sense, great attention has been paid to investigate possible mechanisms underlyi...

Oocyte quality in pigs is defined as the potential of that oocyte to develop into a viable offspring. There is increasing evidence that the programming of the oocyte must be completed before leaving the ovarian follicle, including both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation. Pig oocytes matured in vitro under basic conditions are deficient in some, as yet unidentified, cytoplasmic factors and thus ...

Understanding the mechanisms regulating oocyte developmental competence is essential to enhance the clinical efficiency of assisted reproduction. FSH orchestrates the acquisition of oocyte competence, both in vivo and in vitro. Multiple pathways are implicated in FSH signalling; however, their precise coordination remains unresolved. A robust system to investigate FSH signalling is oocyte in vi...

Oocyte development is characterized by impressive changes in chromatin structure and function in the germinal vesicle (GV) that are crucial in conferring to the oocyte meiotic and developmental competence. During oogenesis, oocyte and follicular cells communicate by paracrine and junctional mechanisms. In cow, cumulus-enclosed oocytes (CEOs) isolated from early antral follicles have uncondensed...

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...