In Angiosperms, the male gametes are delivered to the female gametes through the maternal reproductive tissue by the pollen tube. Upon arrival, the pollen tube releases the two sperm cells, permitting double fertilization to take place. Although the critical role of the female gametophyte in pollen tube reception has been demonstrated, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, w...

Conceptuses from 9.5-day pregnant rats were cultured for 48 h in heat-inactivated homologous serum to which leupeptin, a specific inhibitor of the lysosomal cysteine-proteinases, was added for the final or the penultimate 6 h. The presence of leupeptin (25 micrograms/ml or above) increased the protein content of yolk sacs at harvesting to approximately twice the control value. The protein conte...

Background: Before human MII oocytes are vitrified they are usually denuded from their cumulus cells. In this study we wanted to investigate the effects of an intact corona radiata on the vitrification and fertilization of human oocytes. Materials and Methods: The study comprised two different parts. In Part 1, 36 MII stage oocytes, from 6 patients, were randomly assigned into a control group, ...

The aim of this study was to find the factors explaining the probability of success of in-vitro fertilization (IVF)-embryo transfer and its different stages: stimulation, fertilization and implantation. The sample came from a retrospective cohort followed in the IVF-embryo transfer centre of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire of Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France; the data from 471 couples giving ri...

The uptake of [3H]leucine by the rat yolk sac and embryo and the subsequent synthesis of albumin and transferrin have been studied in whole embryo culture. Rat embryos of 12 days gestation were used in all experiments. Isotopically labelled transferrin was detectable in yolk-sac and embryo tissue extracts. In contrast, [3H]albumin could not be found in either tissue extract. Levels of radioacti...

BACKGROUND The risks of premature birth and perinatal death are increased after in vitro fertilization. These risks are mainly due to the high incidence of multiple births, which relates to the number of embryos transferred. METHODS We performed a randomized, multicenter trial to assess the equivalence of two approaches to in vitro fertilization with respect to the rates of pregnancy that res...

Infertility is defined as the inability of a couple to conceive after 1 year of unprotected sexual intercourse. Approximately 15% of couples worldwide experience some form of infertility. The treatment of infertility with IVF has become an almost routine procedure for millions of couples experiencing infertility. The first IVF baby was conceived in 1978. By 2010 more than 4 million babies had b...