An in vitro model of mycobacterial growth arrest was developed using Mycobacterium bovis BCG. When an exponentially growing culture was transferred to an evacuated tube, growth continued; treatment with a source of nitric oxide (diethylenetriamine-nitric oxide adduct [DETA-NO] at 50 microM) halted growth immediately, and aeration restored growth. When the period of growth arrest exceeded 4 h, a...

In Xenopus oocytes, the mos proto-oncogene product is required during meiosis I for the activation of maturation promoting factor (MPF) and the subsequent breakdown of the germinal vesicle (GVBD). In addition, the mos product has been shown to be a candidate "initiator" of meiotic maturation and is an active component of cytostatic factor (CSF), an activity responsible for metaphase II arrest. ...

BACKGROUND While a complete failure of meiotic maturation following hCG administration is rare during IVF cycles, cases arise in which patients repeatedly display a high incidence of failure to complete maturation to metaphase II (MII) in vivo. For the immature oocytes of such patients, our objectives were (i) to ask whether progression to MII could be supported in vitro, and (ii) to define the...

Meiotic maturation is a complex process that involves resumption of meiosis in response to preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge just before ovulation. High levels of cAMP in oocytes maintain meiotic arrest at diplotene of prophase I in mammals and pisces. In mammals, the process by which LH induces recommencement of meiosis involves breakdown of oocyte-somatic cells communication, which ...

severe congenital neutropenia (scn) is a rare primary immunodeficiency. different genes are found to be associated with scn, including ela2, hax1, was, gfi1, g-csfr. also, recently g6pc3 as a rare gene in scn has been reported. patients with g6pc3 often have cardiac and/or urogenital malformations. two patients with   persistent   severe   neutropenia,   recurrent   infections   and   maturatio...

Mitofusin-2 (Mfn2) is essential for embryonic development, anti-apoptotic events, protection against free radical-induced lesions, and mitochondrial fusion in many cells. However, little is known about its mechanism and function during oocyte maturation. In this study, we found that Mfn2 was expressed in the cytoplasm during different stages of mouse oocyte maturation. Mfn2 was mainly associate...

Since the pig is not only an important farm animal, but also a model animal for biomedical applications, the development of reproductive technologies in this species has been very important. In vitro oocyte maturation and fertilization (IVM-IVF) are basic techniques for a number of oocyte- or embryo-related technologies. The practical aspects for pig oocyte IVM-IVF have been reviewed, while the...