Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: In vitro cultures are a widely used tool to study ovary development and assess reproductive toxicology of chemicals. However, establishing a culture system whereby mouse ovaries can be cultured from a pre-meiotic stage to a mature oocyte has proved challenging. We have developed a novel culture system that spans meiotic entry to meiotic arrest, germ cell nest break-down, follicle formation, and initiation of follicle growth.Methods...

Introduction: DAZL (deleted in azoospermia-like) is an RNA binding protein essential for germ cell entry into meiosis and later stages of germ cell maturation, and its absence is associated with infertility in vertebrates. Efforts to study DAZL and its in vivo RNA targets have been largely limited to mouse, thus human-specific investigations are required.Methods: Human DAZL protein was immunoprecipitated from 17 week ovarian lysate bound RNAs we...

Introduction: The use of the chemotherapeutic agent etoposide in pregnancy is considered to be relatively safe during the second and third trimesters. However, the drug does have detrimental effects on oocytes undergoing meiosis II. Similar effects on oocytes in meiosis I may have a clinical impact on the fertility of women exposed to the drug in utero, during critical stages of ovarian development. This study aims to examine the effects of etoposide exposure during e...

Introduction: The chemotherapy agent etoposide is a topoisomerase II (topo II) inhibitor, and is considered safe to administer during pregnancy. However, assessment of its effects on the developing ovary, when germ cells are undergoing initiation of meiosis and forming follicles, has been limited. We have investigated this using ovarian tissue culture.Methods: E13.5 mouse ovaries were cultured for 12 days on an agar block, with etoposide added for the fi...