Background In vitro maturation (IVM) of human oocytes has acquired increasing attention in infertility treatment with great promise. This technique is an alternative conventional in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET), and can be reduced the side effects of gonadotropin stimulation such as ovarian hyperstimulation (OHSS). Oocyte maturation is a complex process including cytoplasmic and...

Background: This study was conducted in order to determine whether BCB staining performed on immature bovine oocytes to assess G6pdhlevel has an impact on ivf/ivp technology in bovine embryos. Both spermatozoa and oocytes metabolize glucose through the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP), and NADPH appears necessary for gamete fusion. Activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), the key e...

Based on new knowledge coming from marine perciform species, the origin of oocytes and their development in the Ostariophysi, Gymnotus sylvius is described. In both Gymnotus sylvius and marine perciform fish, oogonia are found in the germinal epithelium that forms the surface of the ovarian lamellae. At the commencement of folliculogenesis, proliferation of oogonia and their entrance into meios...

The directed traffic of membrane proteins to the cell surface is crucial for many developmental events. We describe the role of Sec5, a member of the exocyst complex, in directed membrane traffic in the Drosophila oocyte. During oogenesis, we find that Sec5 localization undergoes dynamic changes, correlating with the sites at which it is required for the traffic of membrane proteins. Germline c...

Changes in oocyte quality can have great impact on the developmental potential of early embryos. Here we test whether nuclear genome transfer from a developmentally incompetent to a developmentally competent oocyte can restore developmental potential. Using in vitro oocyte aging as a model system we performed nuclear transfer in mouse oocytes at metaphase II or at the first interphase, and obse...