In Vitro maturation (IVM) of human oocytes is an emerging infertility treatment with great promise. To be successful this future assisted reproductive technology must entail both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of the oocytes and give rise to human embryos that have the same developmental potential as embryos resulting from the golden standard of human IVF. The aspiration of immature oocytes...

www.expert-reviews.com ISSN 1747-4108 © 2009 Expert Reviews Ltd 10.1586/EOG.09.24 It has been almost 50 years since the feasibility of oocyte cryopreservation was successfully demonstrated in mice [1]. Since then, many cryopreservation protocols have been introduced and tested in a wide range of mammalian species. The era of oocyte cryopreservation began with the announcement of the possible su...

Chromosomal aberrations are the major cause of pre- and post-implantation embryo wastage and some studies suggest that half of all human conception have a chromosomal abnormality. Analysis of gametes provides information on the origin of these chromosomal aberrations. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable multi-probe fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) procedure that would e...

Background: Recent animal studies demonstrated that regulating the microRNA (miRNA) in granulosa cells (GCs) modulates the meiotic competence of oocytes. However, the difference in expression profiles of miRNAs in human GCs according to the maturity of the oocyte still remains to be elucidated. Objective: This observational study investigated whether the miRNA profile of human GCs differs accor...

BACKGROUND Controlling nuclear maturation during oocyte culture might improve nuclear-cytoplasmic maturation synchrony. In the present study, the quality of mouse and human cumulus-enclosed oocytes (CEOs) was examined after a two-step culture consisting of a three-dimensional prematuration culture (3D-PMC), followed by in vitro maturation (IVM). METHODS Mouse and human CEOs were embedded in a...

Background: Induction of in vitro maturation and development of immature oocyte is one of the methods that has been frequently used recently in artificial reproduction techniques and has drawn attention of many investigators. This method is useful especially in women who are affected by cancer and polycystic ovary syndrome. Despite using many types of in vitro media, an appropriate environment ...

In mature mammalian oocytes, cortical f-actin distribution is polarized, as evidenced by a prominent cap subtended by the metaphase II (MII) spindle. Formation of a polarized actin cap is a consequence of a complex actomyosin-driven contractile process that directs polar body extrusion. Human mature oocytes also display a network of suboolemmal actin, but so far there has been no suggestion of ...

Chromosome segregation errors in human oocytes are the leading cause of birth defects, and the risk of aneuploid pregnancy increases dramatically as women age. Accurate segregation demands that sister chromatid cohesion remain intact for decades in human oocytes, and gradual loss of the original cohesive linkages established in fetal oocytes is proposed to be a major cause of age-dependent segr...

In this study, using a mouse model, we tested the hypothesis that restraint stress would impair the developmental potential of oocytes by causing oxidative stress and that antioxidant supplementation could overcome the adverse effect of stress-induced oxidative stress. Female mice were subjected to restraint stress for 24 h starting 24 h after equine chorionic gonadotropin injection. At the end...