Background: In vitro culture of ovarian follicles may preserve fertility in women with premature ovarian failure due to cancer .It seems that creation a condition that could maintain cellular communications and supports growth of follicles to produce mature oocytes appear to be essential. Nitric oxide (NO) has been recently shown to act with a dual action in mouse oocyte meiotic maturation depe...

Early in the development of many animals, before transcription begins, any change in the pattern of protein synthesis is attributed to a change in the translational activity or stability of mRNA in the egg and early embryo. As a result, translational control is critical for a variety of developmental decisions, including oocyte maturation and initiation of preimplantation development. In this s...

Background: Because of the problems of achieving to mature oocytes, abillity to deliver the oocytes to mature outside of ovaries was a big discovery that somewhat could reduce the risk of ART`s.Because of the low percentage of in vitro oocyte maturation, research for improving the IVM condition and increasing the oocyte maturation rate is to be continued. The aim of this research is the study o...

We studied the role of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) in modulating oocyte postovulatory aging by observing changes in NCX contents and activities in aging mouse and rat oocytes. Whereas the NCX activity was measured by observing oocyte activation following culture with NCX inhibitor or activator, the NCX contents were determined by immunohistochemical quantification. Although NCX was active in f...

Cell polarity and asymmetry play a fundamental role in embryo development. The unequal segregation of determinants, cues, and activities is the major event in the differentiation of cell fate and function in all multicellular organisms. In oocytes, polarity and asymmetry in the distribution of different molecules are prerequisites for the progression and proper outcome of embryonic development....

The mammalian oocyte develops within a complex of somatic cells known as a follicle, within which signals from the somatic cells regulate the oocyte, and signals from the oocyte regulate the somatic cells. Because isolation of the oocyte from the follicle disrupts these communication pathways, oocyte physiology is best studied within an intact follicle. Here we describe methods for quantitative...

The zona pellucida (ZP) is an extracellular matrix surrounding the oocyte and the early embryo that exerts several important functions during fertilization and early embryonic development. The ZP of most mammalian species is composed of three glycoproteins (ZPA, ZPB, ZPC), products of the gene families ZPA, ZPB and ZPC that have been found to be highly homologous within mammalian species. Most ...

early in the development of many animals, before transcription begins, any change in the pattern of protein synthesis is attributed to a change in the translational activity or stability of mrna in the egg and early embryo. as a result, translational control is critical for a variety of developmental decisions, including oocyte maturation and initiation of preimplantation development. in this s...

JMY is a transcriptional co-factor of p53. Latest work has revealed that JMY is also an actin nucleation factor that regulates new filament assembly and activates Arp2/3 complex in somatic cells; however, roles of JMY in mouse oocyte are unknown. Here we showed the expression and functions of JMY during mouse oocyte meiotic maturation. JMY mRNA is expressed largely from germinal vesicle to meta...