The female germ cell stage of primary importance in radiation genetic hazards is the immature, arrested oocyte. In the mouse, this stage has a near zero or zero sensitivity to mutation induction by radiation. However, the application of these mouse results to women has been questioned on the ground that the mouse arrested oocytes are highly sensitive to killing by radiation, while the human cel...

The inhibitor CEP-33779 is a specific selective inhibitor of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2). In most somatic cells, JAK2 plays essential roles in cellular signal transduction and in the regulation of cell cycle. Little is known regarding the effects of JAK2 on mammalian oocyte maturation. In the present study, we investigated the effects of CEP-33779 on mouse oocytes' meiosis and the possible mechanisms...

background: oocyte cryopreservation is one of the most important topics in the field of assisted reproductive technology to preserve women fertility, but relationship between cryopreservation and apoptosis is still a matter of debate. the present study was aimed to investigate the effects of vitrification on apoptosis in mouse oocytes by cryotop method. method: a total of 200 germinal vesicle (...

Background: Failed fertilization after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) can be due to a reduced oocyte-activation capacity caused by reduced concentrations and abnormal localization of the oocyte-activation factor phospholipase C (PLC) zeta. Patients with this condition can be helped to conceive by artificial activation of oocytes after ICSI with calcium ionophore (assisted oocyte activa...

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic condition characterized by elevated blood glucose levels secondary to absolute impairment of insulin secretion. Maternal diabetes has been demonstrated to adversely affect pre implantation embryo development and pregnancy outcomes. Emerging evidence has implicated that these effects are associated with compromised oocyte competence. Several developme...

BACKGROUND Failed fertilization occurs in 2-3% of ICSI cycles and is mainly due to lack of oocyte activation. Heterologous ICSI of patient's sperm in mouse oocytes allows discrimination between sperm- and oocyte-related aetiologies of activation failure. Assisted oocyte activation (AOA) by Ca-ionophore treatment can initiate fertilization in subsequent therapeutic ICSI. We report on diagnosis a...

Spindle sizes are different in diverse species and cell types. In frogs, the meiotic spindle size is positively correlated with the egg cell volume. Across species, relatively small mouse oocytes (70-80 μm) have a relatively large spindle while larger pig oocytes (about 120 μm) have a considerably smaller spindle. In this study we investigated whether species-specific oocyte spindle size was de...

Oocyte maturation, the important process to produce female haploid gamete, accompanies with polarity establishment and highly asymmetric cell division to emit minor polar body within little cytoplasm. Microfilaments play central roles in polarity establishment and asymmetric cell division. Several actin regulators like WASP protein family as well as small GTPases function in microfilament dynam...

Background: Cryopreservation of oocytes is an effective technology in assisted reproductive technology. Although successful vitrification of gametes has been reported in several mammalian species, the survival is generally low. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on preantral follicle development after vitrifi...