Fertilization in mammals requires the successful completion of many steps, starting with the transport of gametes in the reproductive tract and ending with sperm-egg membrane fusion. In this minireview, we focus on three adhesion steps in this multistep process. The first is oocyte "pick-up," in which the degree of adhesion between the extracellular matrix of the cumulus cells and oviductal epi...

The first major breakthrough for the alleviation of tubal infertility occurred in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Louise Brown was born on the 25 July, 1978 inOldham, England as a result of the pioneering work of Bob Edwards and the late Patrick Steptoe with the help of the late Jean Purdy. Bob Edwards received the ‘Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine’ for this work in 2010. In th...

A couple with unexplained infertility was referred for routine IVF and ICSI treatment. Ovulation was induced by the GnRH analogue protocol combined with HMG and HCG. Preparation of denuded oocytes revealed a major disorder of the zona pellucida and abnormal oocytes. During preparation of ova for ICSI, 15 retrieved oocytes were denuded, 14 of which underwent ICSI treatment. Four of the oocytes c...

Article history: Received 6 March 2011 Received in revised form 12 May 2011 Accepted 20 August 2011 Studies on parthenogenetic activation of oocytes are important to improve the efficiency of nuclear transfer as artificial activation of oocytes is an essential component of nuclear transfer protocol. The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of different activation methods, cu...

Although mammals produce either sperm or eggs depending on their sex, newborn MRL/MpJ male mice contain oocytes within their testes. In our previous study, the testicular oocyte appears as early as day 0 afterbirth and has morphological characteristics as an oocyte such as zona pellucida and follicular epithelial cells. Based on the observation of F1 between MRL/MpJ and C57BL/6, one of the gene...

Cell-to-cell communication was characterized in cumulus-oocyte complexes from rat ovarian follicles before and after ovulation. Numerous, small gap junctional contacts were present between cumulus cells and oocytes before ovulation. The gap junction are formed on the oocyte surface by cumulus cell processes that transverse the zona pellucida and contact the oolemma. The entire cumulus mass was ...

Two processes, namely capacitation and acrosome reaction, are of fundamental importance in the fertilization of oocyte by spermatozoon. Physiologically occurring in the female genital tract, capacitation is a complex process, which renders the sperm cell capable for specific interaction with the oocyte. During capacitation, modification of membrane characteristics, enzyme activity and motility ...

The glycosidase-recognizing N-acetylglucosamine terminal residue, N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), has been repetitively implicated in fertilization. Nevertheless, its role in the multiple steps comprising this process is a matter of debate because it has been involved in zona pellucida (ZP) binding and penetration and polyspermy block. In this study, the involvement of NAG during sperm interacti...

The t haplotypes are variant alleles of genes in the proximal region of mouse Chromosome 17, linked together by four inversions. While females carrying two t haplotypes are fertile, males are sterile. Their spermatozoa exhibit severe motility defects and are unable to penetrate zona pellucida-free oocytes. Spermatozoa from males carrying one t haplotype (t/+) exhibit mild motility deficits and ...