The aim of this study was to investigate cumulus expansion, nuclear maturation and expression of connexin 43, cyclooxygenase-2 and FSH receptor transcripts in equine cumuli oophori during in vivo and in vitro maturation in the presence of equine FSH (eFSH) and precursors for hyaluronic acid synthesis. Equine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) were cultured in a control defined medium supplemented w...

Copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) are micronutrients essential for growth and differentiation of all organisms, but are often deficient in human diet. In the present study, transgenic tobacco plants expressing two fungal genes namely a copper transporter (tcu-1) and a zinc transporter (tzn1) gene from Neurospora crassa were developed and the plants showed enhanced acquisition of Cu and Zn respectively ...

Bidirectional communication between oocytes and the companion granulosa cells is essential for the development and functions of both compartments. Oocytes are deficient in their ability to transport certain amino acids and in carrying out glycolysis and cholesterol biosynthesis. Cumulus cells must provide them with the specific amino acids and the products in these metabolic pathways. Oocytes c...

Studies aimed at the influence of smoking on reproductive functions have found out fertility disorders in smokers occurring at any stage of reproductive processes. In our experiments the role of cadmium, nicotine and anabasine was investigated in the expansion of oocyte-cumulus complexes (OCC) isolated from large antral porcine follicles. Suppression of FSH-induced cumulus expansion and signifi...

Spinels from cumulus and non-cumulus members of the 0thris ophiolite display a considerable variation in composition. Cumulus pierites and gabbros contain either a primary chromite and/or a reaction spinel formed by reaction with co-existing sili?ate,-" (Cr--A1 varia tion) or intercumulus liquid (Cr--Fe variation). Non-cumulus peridotites contain spinels which vary along a Cr--A1 trend. Harzbur...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of recombinant (r-) LH supplementation in "low responder" patients undergoing ovarian stimulation with r-FSH for an IVF program. The apoptosis rate in cumulus cells was used as an indicator of oocyte quality. DESIGN Comparison of the rate of DNA fragmentation and caspase-3 activity in cumulus cells in women stimulated with r-LH and r-FSH, versus patients t...

Desde la Universidad de Costa Rica nos preocupamos por el impacto que nuestros proyectos tienen en las comunidades intervenimos, pero no siempre tiene estudiantado a cargo llevar cabo esos proyectos. Nuestro objetivo general es evidenciar qué manera experiencia del proyecto TCU-452 ha impactado vida personal, académica y profesional participante entre los años 2019 2022. Para ello, exponemos me...

The addition of alpha-amanitin to extrafollicular, cumulus-enclosed ovine oocytes at explantation inhibits meiotic maturation and prevents many of the changes in protein synthesis that normally accompany maturation. By contrast, these inhibitory effects are considerably reduced by either delaying the addition of the drug for 1-4 h or by denuding the oocytes of all associated cumulus cells at th...

Organizers play important roles during the embryonic development of many animals. The most famous example is the Spemann organizer that sets up embryonic axes in amphibian embryos. In spiders, a group of BMP secreting mesenchymal cells (the cumulus) functions as an organizer of the dorsoventral axis. Similar to experiments performed with the Spemann organizer, transplantation of the cumulus is ...

Effect of co-culture of buffalo preantral follicles with different somatic cells, i.e. cumulus cells, granulosa cells, Ovarian Mesenchymal Cells (OMC) and Oviductal Epithelial Cells (OEC) was studied. Large preantral follicles were isolated by microdissecting the trypsin (1%) digested ovarian cortical slices. Cumulus cells were isolated by repeated pipetting of oocytes, granulosa cells were iso...