Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: We recently demonstrated that somatic follicular cells finely regulate the translation of stored mRNAs during oocyte maturation. Amphiregulin and other EGF-like peptides expressed by follicular cells trigger the translation of specific transcripts in the oocyte, seemingly by indirect activation of the Phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinase PI3K/AKT/mTOR cascade. The present study aims to better characterize the role of PI3K/AKT during oocyte maturation by using a genetic...

Introduction: Previous studies suggest that progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1) plays an essential role during bovine oocyte meiosis, since it i) localizes to the centromeres at metaphases I and II and ii) concentrates between the separating chromosomes at ana/telophase I. Moreover, injection of an antibody to PGRMC1 significantly impairs completion of meiosis. The aim of the present study is to expand these findings by using siRNA (RNAi)-mediated gene silencin...

Introduction: We recently demonstrated that in vitro maturation (IVM) is associated with defects in histone H4 lysine 16 (H4K16) acetylation in horse oocytes, together with a higher incidence of spindle anomalies and aneuploidy. In the present study we investigated whether maturation conditions can alter the abundance of transcripts involved in histone acetylation and deacetylation. The specific H4K16 acetyl-transferase Myst1, the general acetyl-transferase <...