comparison of mitochondrial-related transcriptional levels of mitochondrial transcription factor a, nuclear respiratory factor 1 and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 genes in single human oocytes at various stages of the oocyte maturation

background: the aim of the current study was to assess the mrna levels of two mitochondria-related genes, including nuclear-encoded nrf1 (nuclear respiratory factor 1), mitochondrial transcription factor a (tfam), and mitochondrial-encoded cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (mt-co1) genes in various stages of the human oocyte maturation. methods: oocytes were obtained from nine infertile women with male factor undergoing in vitro fertilization (ivf)/intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection protocol. mitochondrial-related mrna levels were performed by single-cell taqman real-time pcr. results: the expression level of the target genes was low at the germinal vesicle stage (p>0.05). although the mrna level of nrf1 gene remained stable in metaphase i, the mrna level of tfam and mt-co1 increased significantly (p<0.05).in metaphase ii, the expression level of all genes increased compared to metaphase i (p<0.05). conclusion: the overexpression levels of nrf1, tfam, and mt-co1 genes are related to the oocyte maturation. therefore, the current study could be used clinically to improve the success rate of ivf.