Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences on reproductive biology and medicine
Reproduction Abstracts (2014) 1 P036 | DOI: 10.1530/repabs.1.P036

WCRB2014 POSTER PRESENTATIONS (1) (335 abstracts)

Morphological markers to select populations of oocytes with different cultural needs for dedicated pre-maturation systems

Cecilia Dieci 1 , Rémi Labrecque 2 , Valentina Lodde 1 , Irene Tessaro 1 , Valentina Baruffini 1 , Giorgia Lodi 1 , Silvia Modina 1 , Marc-Andre Sirard 2 & Alberto M Luciano 1


1University of Milan, Milan, Italy; 2Université Laval, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada.


Introduction: Several studies support the notion that in vitro pre-maturation treatments aimed to improve the developmental capability of immature oocytes have a different effect depending on the oocyte metabolic status at the time of its removal from the follicle. We demonstrated that changes in large-scale chromatin configuration within the germinal vesicle (GV) of fully-grown bovine oocytes are related to the acquisition of developmental competence. In particular, only a limited percentage of GV1 oocytes reached the blastocyst stage, while GV2 and GV3 oocytes showed a higher embryonic developmental potential. The present study aimed at identifying possible correlations between cumulus–oocyte complex (COC) morphology and chromatin configurations.

Methods: COCs were collected from 2 to 6 mm follicles, selected according to commonly accepted criteria for in vitro embryo production and those with evident signs of atresia were discarded. Selected COCs were further divided into three groups based on the texture of the ooplasm (homogenous or granulated) and on the morphology of the cumulus oophorus (layers number, degree of expansion of outer layer). After cumulus cell removal, chromatin configuration was assessed by DAPI staining.

Results and discussion: Our study indicate that GV1 is present only in group 1 (homogenous ooplasm and absence of outer layer expansion), representing one third of group 1 total COCs, while groups 2 and 3 are similarly enriched of GV2 and GV3. This can providea non-invasive approach to select populations of oocytes with different cultural needs to be subjected to dedicated in vitro development protocols. This hypothesis is currently under investigation.

Volume 1

World Congress of Reproductive Biology 2014

Edinburgh, UK
02 Sep 2014 - 04 Sep 2014

World Congress of Reproductive Biology 

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