Although securin/separase/cohesion pathway was reported to regulate chromosome segregation during meiotic metaphase-to-anaphase transition, little biochemical evidence was provided. We recently found that oocytes could not progress beyond meiotic metaphase when ubiquitin-proteasome pathway was inhibited, but the mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the quantity of se...

We recently identified Xenopus Rho-associated protein kinase alpha (xROKalpha) as a Xenopus insulin receptor substrate-1 binding protein and demonstrated that the non-catalytic carboxyl terminus of xROKalpha binds Xenopus insulin receptor substrate-1 and blocks insulin-induced MAP kinase activation and germinal vesicle breakdown in Xenopus oocytes. In the current study we further examined the r...

Nuclear transfer procedures have been recently applied for clinical and research targets as a novel assisted reproductive technique and were used for increasing the oocyte activity during its growth and maturation. In this review, we summarized the nuclear transfer technique for germinal vesicle stage oocytes to reconstruct the maturation of them. Our study covered publications between 1966 and...

The present paper shows through conventional light microscopy, silver nitrate impregnation and Transmission Electron Microscopy, the changes in nuclear activity that occurs in the ovary cells during vitellogenesis of Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758). The material impregnated by silver nitrate was detected in nurse cells, oocyte germinal vesicle and follicular cells, whose amounts are greater in ...

High resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis has been used to examine the pattern of protein synthesis during meiotic maturation of mouse oocytes in vitro. Fluorograms of [35S]methionine-labeled oocyte proteins have revealed that meiotic progression from dictyate to metaphase II (meiotic maturation) is accompanied by marked changes in the pattern of proteins synthesized by oocytes. Virtually...

background: in vitro maturation (ivm) of oocytes is a promising technique to reduce the costs and avert the side-effects of gonadotropin stimulation for in vitro fertilization (ivf). the pregnancy rates from oocytes matured in vitro are much lower than those of in vivo stimulation cycles, indicating that optimization of ivm remains a challenge. objective: in this study, we investigated the effe...

The present study was undertaken to explore the regulatory mechanisms for meiotic resumption of pig cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) by assessing the nuclear status of oocytes, the degree of gap junction cell-to-cell communication and cumulus expansion after culture of various numbers of COCs in 10 microl droplets of medium for 24 h. Gap junction communication was examined by confocal laser scan...

The resumption of the meiotic cycle (maturation) induced by 1-methyladenine in prophase-arrested starfish oocytes is indicated by the breakdown of the germinal vesicle and is characterized by the increased sensitivity of the Ca2+ stores to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) to InsP3 starting at the animal hemisphere (where the germinal vesicle was originally located) and propagating along the...