Progesterone influences cytoplasmic maturation in porcine oocytes developing in vitro

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Progesterone (P4), an ovarian steroid hormone, is an important regulator of female reproduction. In this study, we explored the influence of progesterone on porcine oocyte nuclear maturation and cytoplasmic maturation and development in vitro. We found that the presence of P4 during oocyte maturation did not inhibit polar body extrusions but significantly increased glutathione and decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels relative to that in control groups. The incidence of parthenogenetically activated oocytes that could develop to the blastocyst stage was higher ( p < 0.05) when oocytes were exposed to P4 as compared to that in the controls. Cell numbers were increased in the P4-treated groups. Further, the P4-specific inhibitor mifepristone (RU486) prevented porcine oocyte maturation, as represented by the reduced incidence ( p < 0.05) of oocyte first polar body extrusions. RU486 affected maturation promoting factor (MPF) activity and maternal mRNA polyadenylation status. In general, these data show that P4 influences the cytoplasmic maturation of porcine oocytes, at least partially, by decreasing their polyadenylation, thereby altering maternal gene expression.

Related collections

Most cited references 50

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Oxidative DNA damage and disease: induction, repair and significance.

Mark D. Evans, Miral Dizdaroglu, Marcus Cooke (2004)

The generation of reactive oxygen species may be both beneficial to cells, performing a function in inter- and intracellular signalling, and detrimental, modifying cellular biomolecules, accumulation of which has been associated with numerous diseases. Of the molecules subject to oxidative modification, DNA has received the greatest attention, with biomarkers of exposure and effect closest to validation. Despite nearly a quarter of a century of study, and a large number of base- and sugar-derived DNA lesions having been identified, the majority of studies have focussed upon the guanine modification, 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG). For the most part, the biological significance of other lesions has not, as yet, been investigated. In contrast, the description and characterisation of enzyme systems responsible for repairing oxidative DNA base damage is growing rapidly, being the subject of intense study. However, there remain notable gaps in our knowledge of which repair proteins remove which lesions, plus, as more lesions identified, new processes/substrates need to be determined. There are many reports describing elevated levels of oxidatively modified DNA lesions, in various biological matrices, in a plethora of diseases; however, for the majority of these the association could merely be coincidental, and more detailed studies are required. Nevertheless, even based simply upon reports of studies investigating the potential role of 8-OH-dG in disease, the weight of evidence strongly suggests a link between such damage and the pathogenesis of disease. However, exact roles remain to be elucidated.

0 comments Cited 241 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Reactive oxygen species and the mitochondrial signaling pathway of cell death.

M. Le Parquier, Fiona M. Clement, S Pervaiz … (2004)

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced as a by-product of cellular metabolic pathways and function as a critical second messenger in a variety of intracellular signaling pathways. Thus, a defect or deficiency in the anti-oxidant defense system on the one hand and/or the excessive intracellular generation of ROS on the other renders a cell oxidatively stressed. As a consequence, direct or indirect involvement of ROS in numerous diseases has been documented. In most of these cases, the deleterious effect of ROS is a function of activation of intracellular cell-death circuitry. To that end, involvement of ROS at different phases of the apoptotic pathway, such as induction of mitochondrial permeability transition and release of mitochondrial death amplification factors, activation of intracellular caspases and DNA damage, has been clearly established. For instance, the ROS-induced alteration of constitutive mitochondrial proteins, such as the voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC) and/or the adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) can induce the pro-apoptotic mitochondrial membrane permabilization. Not only do these observations provide insight into the intricate mechanisms underlying a variety of disease states, but they also present novel opportunities for the design and development of more effective therapeutic strategies.

0 comments Cited 56 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in relation to quality of bovine oocytes and embryos produced in vitro.

Ming Yuan Yang, Rajadurai Rajamahendran (2002)

The mechanisms underlying the visual assessment and selection of immature oocytes resulting in optimum embryonic development following in vitro maturation, fertilization and culture (in vitro maturation (IVM)/in vitro fertilization (IVF)/in vitro embryo culture (IVC)) are unknown. Also, the reasons for the more frequent occurrence of cytoplasmic fragmentation in in vitro produced bovine embryos, resulting in poor survival following cryopreservation and decreased pregnancy rates following embryo transfer are not clear. The objectives of this study are: (1) to investigate whether differences in the quality of immature oocytes and embryo fragmentation are associated with apoptosis; and (2) to study the pattern of Bcl-2 and Bax expression in oocytes and embryos to help elucidate their potential roles in the regulation of apoptosis during development. Bovine oocytes were obtained from slaughterhouse ovaries and divided into four grades (grades I-IV) based on their morphology. Oocytes of different grades were cultured in serum-free medium for 48h. Embryos were produced only from grade I oocytes (highest quality) via IVM, IVF and IVC procedures. The morphological analysis of apoptosis in oocytes and embryos was carried out using propidium iodide staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling. The expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in oocytes and embryos of different qualities and stages was determined using western blotting. The results showed that the number of morphologically abnormal oocytes with shrinkage and/or fragmentation of the ooplasm, which are typical features of apoptosis, was significantly higher in grade IV oocytes (denuded oocytes, the lowest quality) than in grade I oocytes after 48h in vitro culture (P<0.05). DNA fragmentation, a hallmark of the biochemical changes seen in apoptotic cell death, was observed in morphologically fragmented oocytes and embryos. The expression of Bcl-2 was high in good quality oocytes and embryos, low in fragmented embryos, and hardly detectable in denuded oocytes. In contrast, the expression of Bax was found in all types of oocytes and embryos with the highest expression in the denuded oocytes. This implies that the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax may be used to gauge the tendency of oocytes and embryos towards either survival or apoptosis. Overall, our results show that apoptosis appears to be an underlying mechanism of bovine oocyte degeneration and embryo fragmentation. Interactions between the Bcl-2 family of proteins may play a critical role in pre-implantation embryo development. These findings could have important implications for improving IVF and related techniques.

0 comments Cited 52 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Jia-Bao Zhang

Nam-Hyung Kim

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PeerJ

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PeerJ

Journal ID (publisher-id): peerj

Journal ID (pmc): peerj

Title: PeerJ

Publisher: PeerJ Inc. (San Francisco, USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 2167-8359

Publication date (Electronic): 15 September 2016

Publication date Collection: 2016

Volume: 4

Electronic Location Identifier: e2454

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Laboratory Animal, College of Animal Sciences, Jilin university , Changchun, Jilin, P.R.China

[2 ]Department of Animal Sciences, Molecular Embryology Laboratory, Chungbuk National University , Cheongju, Chungbuk, Korea

Article

Publisher ID: 2454

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2454

PMC ID: 5028735

SO-VID: d24054ce-ca0e-4bbe-976d-acbdc3b23528

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.

History

Date received : 17 June 2016

Date accepted : 17 August 2016

Funding

Funded by: BioGreen 21 Program

Award ID: PJ011126

Funded by: National Natural Science Foundation of China

Award ID: 31572400

This study was supported by the BioGreen 21 Program (No. PJ011126) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31572400). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Progesterone influences cytoplasmic maturation in porcine oocytes developing in vitro

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Developing Data Infrastructures

Most cited references 50

Oxidative DNA damage and disease: induction, repair and significance.

Reactive oxygen species and the mitochondrial signaling pathway of cell death.

Expression of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in relation to quality of bovine oocytes and embryos produced in vitro.

Author and article information

Contributors

Journal

Affiliations

Article

History

Funding

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 149

Cited by 10

Most referenced authors 640