This review compiles present knowledge of the structure and molecular composition of the enigmatic cytoplasmic organelles called accessory nuclei. Most typically, they are found in the perinuclear cytoplasm in oocytes of insects and several other invertebrates. Accessory nuclei originate by budding of the oocyte nucleus (germinal vesicle) and are surrounded by an envelope identical to the nucle...

To study the intranuclear localization of the U1-specific snRNP C protein and its assembly into U1 snRNPs, we injected transcripts encoding a myc-tagged C protein into amphibian oocytes. The distribution of protein translated from the injected RNA was essentially the same in continuous and pulse-label experiments. In both cases the C protein localized within the germinal vesicle in those struct...

Meiotic maturation is a complex process that involves resumption of meiosis in response to preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge just before ovulation. High levels of cAMP in oocytes maintain meiotic arrest at diplotene of prophase I in mammals and pisces. In mammals, the process by which LH induces recommencement of meiosis involves breakdown of oocyte-somatic cells communication, which ...

Cytoskeletal proteins such as actin and myosin are important constituents of the nucleoplasm. Spectrin is an actin binding protein typically related to plasma membrane; recently, it has been found that it is widespread and forms distinct membrane protein domains in such organelles as the Golgi. In this paper, the large germinal vesicle of amphibian oocytes was chosen as a particularly suitable ...

Progesterone induces maturation by releasing oocyte from G2 of MI cell cycle arrest. This process is rate limiting as it produces fertilizable eggs. Therefore, it draws a lot of attention. Na+, K+-ATPase is a membrane bound enzyme molecule that has known to have various functions. One of these functions is to act as receptor for Progesterone. In oocyte maturation to egg entirely depends on prog...

Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) genotype IVb was recently detected as the cause of numerous mortality events in Great Lakes fish. In situ hybridization was used to examine the gonads from 13 fish, including freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens and muskellunge Esox masquinongy that were infected naturally, as well as rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and fathead minnows Pimphales pr...

Maturation in vitro of oocytes of the newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, is inducible with progesterone after in vivo treatment of females with gonadotropin; few oocytes mature in vitro in the absence of such gonadotropin treatment. Chromosomes of most large oocytes of animals not receiving gonadotropin are still in the lampbrush condition; chromosomes from gonadotropin-treated animals are shorte...

It has been suggested that nucleus replacement (transfer) may be used as an efficient oocyte therapy in order to prevent transmission of mutated mitochondrial DNA from mother to offspring in humans. The essential and not yet answered question is how mitochondria surrounding the karyoplast will be distributed in the newly reconstructed oocytes. In our model experiments, we have evaluated the dis...