Background: Different culture media are used for in vitro maturation of ovine oocyte. The Weymouth medium are used for in vitro maturation of rat and mice oocytes with very low levels of supplementation (Just FBS, while to acquire the good results in TCM hormone, and serum supplementation and in some cases growth factor are necessary to gain the optimized results. The aim of the present study w...

Background: in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes has increasing potential applications in assisted reproductive technology (ART), during which germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes cultured in vitro to produce mature (MII arrested) ones. Although functional, IVM oocytes have low developmental competence compared to in vivo matured oocytes; possibly because IVM comprises asynchrony between nuclear and c...

Background: Cryopreservation of in vitro matured oocytes is a useful technique because the oocytes can be used for some assisted reproductive technologies. On the other hand, the cryopreservation of oocytes is an open problem as a result of their structural sensitivity to the freezing process. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of vitrification on in vitro development of vitri...

Background: The developmental competence of oocytes matured in vitro (IVM) is yet far below than in vivo counterparts. Recent studies suggest that the asynchrony between nuclear/cytoplasmic maturation and the initial low/heterogeneous quality of oocytes are the most important factors affecting IVM success. We investigated whether selection of growing oocytes (based on their glucose 6- phosphate...

Background: The cryopreservation of immature oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage would create an easily accessible, nonseasonal source of female gametes for research and reproduction. The present study investigated the ability of ovine oocytes vitrified at the GV stage using a cryoloop to be subsequently matured, fertilized and cultured in vitro to blastocyst-stage embryos. Materials and...

BACKGROUND The impact of prion proteins in the rules that dictate biological reproduction is still poorly understood. Likewise, the role of prnt gene, encoding the prion-like protein testis specific (Prt), in ram reproductive physiology remains largely unknown. In this study, we assessed the effect of Prt in ovine fertilization by using an anti-Prt antibody (APPA) in fertilization medium incuba...

Background: Present study aims to investigate if PMC of ovine oocytes in the presence of cilostamide a phosphodiesterase type 3 (PDE3) inhibitor can improve the shortcomings of conventional IVM system. Materials and Methods: Immature ovine oocytes were retrieved from pre antral follicles of abattoir ovaries by aspiration and after washing in Htcm + %10 FBS were immediately classified in four gr...

Background: Heat shock may affect different aspects of oocyte maturation and its subsequent development to the blastocyst stage. A series of in vitro experiments was performed to determine whether physiologically heat shock (41°C) disrupts the progression of the ovine oocytes through meiosis, activation and blastocyst formation. Materials and Methods: The cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were as...

Background: In vitro maturation and fertilization are techniques to increase efficiency of mammals reproduction. However, in vitro culture conditions exert an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants which may reduce live birth and pregnancy rates when compare to in vivo conditions. Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted as a part of the ovine IVF program organized by Univers...