Background: Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a 45-56 kDa glycoprotein that has an important role in proliferation and embryo implantation. Its effect on oocyte maturation and how to exert the function remained to be elucidated. Methods: Immature mice superovulated with human menopausal gonadotropin and germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes were obtained from ovary 48 hours after. GV oocytes were cul...

introduction: the incidence of sperm and oocyte premature chromosome condensation (pcc) in the failed fertilized oocytes that were taken after routine in viro fertilization (ivf) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (icsi) programs were investigated. materials and methods: in this study, 364 air-dried preparations of failed fertilized oocytes after either ivf or ocsi procedures were analyzed. t...

Intracellular Ca(2+) oscillations at fertilization are responsible for triggering egg activation. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the age of the oocyte donor and in-vitro maturation on the generation of Ca(2+) transients at fertilization. The results show that <10% of in-vivo and in-vitro matured oocytes from 19-day old mice develop to the blastocyst stage in vitro. In contra...

Failure to retrieve oocytes after normal ovarian stimulation has been labeled ‘empty follicle syndrome’ (EFS). The existence of genuine EFS has been questioned and is still controversial. Here, we report an unusual case in which an extraordinary number of empty follicle-like structures were identified in the ovarian aspirate at the time of retrieval. A 31-year-old woman presented with a 4-year ...

The postnatal mammalian ovary contains the primary follicles, each comprising an immature oocyte surrounded by a layer of somatic granulosa cells. Oocytes reach meiotic and developmental competence via folliculogenesis. During this process, the granulosa cells proliferate massively around the oocyte, form an extensive extracellular matrix (ECM) and differentiate into cumulus cells. As the ECM c...

OBJECTIVE To describe a case series of seven women with SLE and other systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) who required cyclophosphamide therapy and underwent fertility preservation treatments. METHODS Of the seven patients reported here, five women had SLE with nephritis, the sixth had immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) and the seventh had microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) with ren...

During oogenesis, the egg prepares for fertilization and early embryogenesis. As a consequence, vesicle transport is very active during vitellogenesis, and oocytes are an outstanding system to study regulators of membrane trafficking. Here, we combine zebrafish genetics and the oocyte model to identify the molecular lesion underlying the zebrafish souffle (suf) mutation. We demonstrate that suf...

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a class of polypeptides that permit organismal survival in sub-freezing environments. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of AFP supplementation on immature mouse oocyte vitrification. Germinal vesicle-stage oocytes were vitrified using a two-step exposure to equilibrium and vitrification solution in the presence or absence of 500 ng/mL of AFP ...