OBJECTIVE We found previously that interferon regulatory factor (Irf)-1 is a germinal vesicle (GV)-selective gene that highly expressed in GV as compared to metaphase II oocytes. To our knowledge, the function of Irf-1 in oocytes has yet to be examined. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between retinoic acid (RA) and RA-mediated expression of Irf-1 and the mouse oocy...

BACKGROUND Relaxin is a small peptide also known as pregnancy hormone in many mammals. It is synthesized by both male and female tissues, and its secretions are found in various body fluids such as plasma serum, ovarian follicular fluid, utero-oviduct secretions, and seminal plasma of many mammals, including pigs. However, the presence and effects of relaxin in porcine gametes and embryos are s...

BACKGROUND Zona pellucida binding assays (ZBAs) have proven useful in determining the fertilising ability of spermatozoa in several species. Most ZBAs use fresh or salt-stored oocytes collected from fresh ovaries but because ovaries are not easy to obtain on a regular basis, chilled and frozen-thawed ovaries have been tested, with varying results. The present study tested the hypothesis that ca...

BACKGROUND Approximately 20% of oocytes are classified as immature and discarded following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedures. These oocytes are obtained from gonadotropin-stimulated patients, and are routinely removed from the cumulus cells which normally would mature the oocytes. Given the ready access to these human oocytes, they represent a potential resource for both clinic...

BACKGROUND Previous studies showed that immature oocytes stored in ovarian tissue could develop to the mature stage after transplantation. However, the quality and competency of the oocytes developed in xenografted ovarian tissue have never been investigated. As a pilot study to investigate this uncharted issue, we evaluated microtubule organization and chromatin configuration of human oocytes ...

A total of 82 patients underwent 106 cycles in which immature oocytes were recovered after hCG priming and transferred at blastocyst-stage. After transfer, the implantation rate was 26.8%, and the clinical pregnancy rate was 51.9%. We found that the oocytes retrieved after hCG priming in women with high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in the in vitro maturation program can develop to ...

Cytoplasmic extracts of meiotically mature mouse oocytes were injected into immature Xenopus laevis oocytes, which underwent germinal vesicle breakdown within 2 h. Germinal vesicle breakdown was not inhibited by incubation of the Xenopus oocytes in cycloheximide (20 micrograms/ml). Identically prepared extracts of meiotically immature mouse oocytes, arrested at the germinal vesicle stage by dib...

Background: Cryobiology and in vitro maturation of oocytes are very important tools of reproductive technology. Oocyte plays an important role in fertility. The objective of this research is comparison study the effect of invitro maturation and IVF fertilization of cryopreserved oocyte with fresh oocyte in mice. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, after superovulation was performed oocytes...

Oocyte developmental competence is one of the determining factors that in?uence outcomes an IVF cycle regarding ability a female gamete to reach maturation and be fertilized. A non-invasive approach using proteomic analysis oocyte cumulus cells (CCs) can used as method predict viability could potentially function molecular predictors for program prognosis. Our study was aimed at quantifying pro...

The potential for rescuing immature oocytes from the ovaries of females of rare felid species which die or undergo medical ovariohysterectomy was evaluated. Ovaries were recovered from 13 species representing 35 individuals in good-to-poor health. Although the majority of females were 10 yr of age or older and in fair-to-poor health, a total of 846 oocytes were recovered of which 608 (71.9%) we...