Techniques for in vitro production (IVP) of viable embryos have been thoroughly developed in several domestic species in view to improve breeding efficiency. When applied to wild life, these techniques may also help the maintenance of biodiversity through amplification of sparse animals offspring and facilitation of genetic material exchange. During the successive steps of IVP, i.e. oocyte in v...

Precise coordination between the development of the oocyte and the ovarian follicle is essential in order to provide an egg that is fully competent to undergo fertilisation and embryo development. A key component of this co-ordination is changing patterns of gene expression and protein synthesis by various populations of granulosa cells throughout follicular development. There are two populatio...

This paper describes a strategy for designing a chemically anchored phospholipid monolayer that could be used as coating materials for biomedical implants. To make a chemically anchored phospholipid monolayer on the polymer substrate, we prepared the mono-acrylated phospholipid (1-palmitoyl-2-[12-(acryloyloxy)-dodecanoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine; acryloyl-PC) and the acrylated polymer (poly...

Signaling via the conserved WNT/beta-CATENIN pathway controls diverse developmental processes. To explore its potential role in the ovary, we investigated the expression of WNTs, frizzled (FZD) receptors and other pathway components in human cumulus cells obtained from oocytes collected for in vitro fertilization. Proteins were detected in cultured cells using immunofluorescence microscopy. Pro...

Successful ovulation requires that developmentally competent oocytes are released with appropriate timing from the ovarian follicle. Somatic cells of the follicle sense the ovulatory stimulus and guide resumption of meiosis and release of the oocyte, as well as structural remodelling and luteinization of the follicle. Complex intercellular communication co-ordinates critical stages of oocyte ma...

Few studies demonstrate at a biochemical level the metabolic profile of both cumulus cells and the oocyte during maturation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the differential participation of enzymatic activity in cumulus cells and in the oocyte during in vitro maturation (IVM) by studying the activity of enzymes involved in the control of amino acid metabolism, alanine aminotran...

Co/Ag/Ge (1 1 1) films show an in-plane anisotropy as deposited at 200K. The ferromagnetic inactive layers, formed due to the intermixing of Co and Ge, can be efficiently reduced to zero thickness by introducing 6 monolayer (ML) Ag as a buffer layer. For Co/3ML Ag/Ge (1 1 1) films, the amount of Ag is not enough to separate Co and the Ge substrate. This results in the formation of a 2-monolayer...

BACKGROUND Granulosa cells are essential mediators of oocyte maturation and fertilization. Because of the denudation of oocytes in preparation for ICSI, any potential positive effect of surplus cumulus cells (CCs) on further development would be unable to exert further effect. In order to evaluate the actual influence of adhering cumulus cells on further preimplantation development, this prospe...

Pluripotent stem cells are possibly the best candidates for regenerative medicine, and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is one of the viable options to make patient-specific embryonic stem cells. Till date efficacy of SCNT embryos is very low and requires further improvement like ideal oocyte activation and in vitro culture system. The aim of the present study was to evaluate ideal oocyte a...