LSM family member 14 (LSM14) belongs to the RNA-associated protein (RAP) family that is widely expressed in different species, and whose functions include associating and storing mRNAs. In the present study, we found that LSM14b was essential for oocyte meiotic maturation. Lack of LSM14b caused oocyte meiotic arrest at metaphase, and misalignment of chromosomes, as well as abnormal spindle asse...

Mammalian oocyte meiotic divisions are highly asymmetric and produce a large haploid gamete 2 small polar bodies. This relies on the ability of cell to break symmetry position its spindle close cortex before anaphase occurs. In metaphase II–arrested mouse oocytes, is actively maintained parallel cortex, until fertilization triggers sister chromatid segregation rotation spindle. The latter must ...

The success of an organism is contingent upon its ability to transmit genetic material through meiotic cell division. In plant meiosis I, the process begins in a large spherical cell without physical cues to guide the process. Yet, two microtubule-based structures, the spindle and phragmoplast, divide the chromosomes and the cell with extraordinary accuracy. Using a live-cell system and fluores...

The interplay between genetic and epigenetic factors plays a central role in mammalian embryo production strategies that superimpose ex vivo or in vivo manipulations upon strain background characteristics. In this study, we examined the relationship between genetic background and the phenotypic properties of mouse metaphase-II (M-II) oocytes that were matured under in vivo (IVO) or in vitro con...

It is well established that chromosome segregation in female meiosis I (MI) is error-prone. The acentrosomal meiotic spindle poles do not have centrioles and are not anchored to the cortex via astral microtubules. By Cre recombinase-mediated removal in oocytes of the microtubule binding site of nuclear mitotic apparatus protein (NuMA), which is implicated in anchoring microtubules at poles, we ...

The early growth response (Egr) family of zinc finger transcription factors consists of 4 members. During an investigation of Egr factor localization in mouse ovaries, we noted that Egr3 exhibits a subcellular localization that overlaps with the meiotic spindle in oocytes. Using Egr3-specific antibodies, we establish that Egr3 co-localizes with the spindle and cytosolic microtubule organizing c...

With the help of the technique of Sendai virus-mediated cell fusion, hybrid cells were produced between two maturing oocytes, between maturing oocytes or mature secondary oocytes and interphase blastomeres from 2-cell embryos, and between secondary oocytes and follicle cells (FC). In the first case giant oocytes form and in these the two groups of condensing bivalents join on a common spindle, ...

Although much progress has been made in oocyte cryopreservation since 1971, live offspring have only been obtained in a few species and in rabbits. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of vitrification and slow freezing on the meiotic spindle, cortical granule (CG) distribution and their developmental competence. Oocytes were vitrified in 16.84% ethylene glycol, 12.86% formamide, 22....

Male meiosis in Trichosia pubescens (Sciaridae) was investigated by means of serial section electron microscopy and immunofluorescence light microscopy. From earlier studies of another sciarid fly, Sciara coprophila (Phillips (1967) J. Cell. Biol. 33, 73-92), it is known that the spindle poles in sciarid spermatogonia are characterized by pairs of 'giant centrioles', ring-shaped organelles comp...

Irradiation of the mitotic spindle in living Nephrotoma suturalis (Loew) spermatocytes with an ultraviolet microbeam of controlled dose produced a localized area of reduced birefringence in the spindle fibers. The birefringence was reduced only at the site irradiated, and only on the spindle fibers irradiated. Areas of reduced birefringence, whether produced during metaphase or during anaphase,...