During spermatogenesis in mammals and in Drosophila melanogaster, male germ cells develop in a series of essential developmental processes. This includes differentiation from a stem cell population, mitotic amplification, and meiosis. In addition, post-meiotic germ cells undergo a dramatic morphological reshaping process as well as a global epigenetic reconfiguration of the germ line chromatin-...

31 32 In the growing follicle, communication between the oocyte and its surrounding follicular 33 cells is essential for normal oocyte and follicular development. Maturation of the fully34 grown oocyte in vivo is associated with the loss of cumulus cell-oocyte gap junctional 35 communication, preventing entry of meiotic-modulating factors such as cAMP into the 36 oocyte. We have previously show...

We have examined the potential role of fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-induced meiotic maturation. Etomoxir and malonyl CoA, two inhibitors of carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT1), and thus FAO, blocked meiotic induction in dbcAMP-arrested cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes (CEO) and denuded oocytes (DO) by the AMPK activator, AICAR. C75, an activator of CPT1 an...

Meiosis in mammalian females is marked by two arrest points, at prophase I and metaphase II, which must be tightly regulated in order to produce a haploid gamete at the time of fertilization. The transition metal zinc has emerged as a necessary and dynamic regulator of the establishment, maintenance, and exit from metaphase II arrest, but the roles of zinc during prophase I arrest are largely u...

BACKGROUND In an attempt to allow for acquisition of oocyte cytoplasmic maturation, PDE3 specific inhibitor, cilostamide and adenylate cyclase activator, forskolin were used to extend pre-maturation culture of immature human oocytes. METHODS Cumulus-oocyte complexes retrieved from unstimulated ovaries were continuously cultured under 20 microM cilostamide or 50 microM forskolin, alone or in c...

objective(s): sertoli cells support in vivo germ cell production; but, its exact mechanism has not been well understood. the present study was designed to analyze the effect of sertoli cells in differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mescs) to germ cells.   materials and methods: a fusion construct composed of a stra8 gene promoter and the coding region of enhanced green fluorescence pro...

Mammalian oocytes are arrested at prophase I of meiosis until a preovulatory surge of LH stimulates them to resume meiosis. Prior to the LH surge, high levels of cAMP within the oocyte maintain meiotic arrest; this cAMP is generated in the oocyte through the activity of the constitutively active, G(s)-coupled receptor, G-protein-coupled receptor 3 (GPR3) or GPR12. Activated GPRs are typically t...

background & aim: alhagi genus has two important  medicinal plant species in iran, including alhagi pseudoalhagi, and a. graecorum (known “kharshotor” in persian). these plants are distributed in iran like weeds. generally, alhagi is used as an anti-hemorrhoid, laxative and diuretic. manna in both species produced by activity of a kind of insect on alhagi branches which has medicinal proper...

  Objective(s): Sertoli cells support in vivo germ cell production; but, its exact mechanism has not been well understood. The present study was designed to analyze the effect of Sertoli cells in differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to germ cells.   Materials and Methods: A fusion construct composed of a Stra8 gene promoter and the coding region of enhanced green fluorescence p...