Problem statement: Development of efficient culture system to support embryonic development would be valuable when quality of produced embryos was important. However, the rate of bovine embryo production in vitro was still lower than expected. Present study, including of three experiments, was carried out to investigate the effect of insulin on nuclear maturation and subsequent development of i...

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of additional alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) supplementation during in vitro maturation (IVM) and culture (IVC) on nucleic maturation and embryo development of pigs. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were incubated in IVM medium containing different concentration of ALA (25, 50 and 100 μM) for 44 h. After in vitro maturation, nuclear maturation of ooc...

BACKGROUND MicroRNA (miRNA) are small non-coding RNA molecules critical for regulating cellular function, and are abundant in the maturing oocyte and developing embryo. MiRNA-21 (MIR21) has been shown to elicit posttranscriptional gene regulation in several tissues associated with rapid cell proliferation in addition to demonstrating anti-apoptotic features through interactions with PDCD4 mRNA ...

This study examined the effects of human menopausal gonadotrophin (HMG) or human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) priming on cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) morphology, oocyte maturation and embryo development in patients undergoing in-vitro maturation (IVM) cycles. The patients were primed with nothing (group 1), low-dose HMG (group 2) or 10,000 IU HCG (group 3) before oocyte retrieval. COC with dis...

The evaluation of medium for in vitro maturation of buffalo oocytes has progressed towards more defined conditions for the studies evaluating effect of specific components in the medium. Therefore, aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fatty acid free-bovine serum albumin (FAF-BSA) alone or supplemented with epidermal growth factor (EGF) in the in vitro maturation medium on in ...

Background: In vitro maturation (IVM) of immature oocyte is a promising treatment option for infertile women.IVM procedures attempt to mimic the natural conditions of the follicular environment. The technique of IVM of oocytes has been successful after the first trial using culture of human oocytes in follicular fluid. The crucial part of this technique is the maturation process itself, and the...

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to assess survival of follicles, their oocyte maturation and fertilization potential as well as expression of early embryo developmental genes in in vitro cultured pre-antral follicles derived from vitrified-warmed mouse ovary. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this experimental study, ovaries of 12-day old Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) female mice were pla...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) priming has been studied in in vitro matured oocytes for oocyte maturation rate, embryo quality, and pregnancy rate with discouraging results. This study aimed to initiate FSH stimulation later, i.e. on day 6, to prolong natural endometrial priming and promote oocyte maturation. METHODS Forty polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients were e...

Plant seeds prepare for germination already during seed maturation. We performed a detailed transcriptome analysis of barley (Hordeum vulgare) grain maturation, desiccation, and germination in two tissue fractions (starchy endosperm/aleurone and embryo/scutellum) using the Affymetrix Barley1 GeneChip. To aid data evaluation, Arabidopsis thaliana MapMan and PageMan tools were adapted to barley. ...

Oxidative stress contributes to inadequate in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes which leads to a failure of successful fertilization and embryo development. Therefore, the overall objective of this research was to characterize the mechanisms of oxidative stress in maturing oocytes and determine how oocytes alleviate oxidative stress with the assistance of supplemental antioxidants. A prelimin...