Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Mitochondria are abundant in fully-grown mammalian oocytes with a unique spherical morphology, but the manner in which the behavior of mitochondria is controlled is not well understood. We explored the spatiotemporal control of mitochondrial morphology by mitochondrial fusion and fission mechanisms and the functional impact of that control on meiotic division, using mouse oocytes.Materials and methods: Immature oocytes were collected from t...

Introduction: Genome-wide demethylation reprograms the genome after fertilization and re-establishes totipotency: 5-methylcytosine (5 mC) in the paternal pronucleus is rapidly converted to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5 hmC) by the dioxygenase 10–11 translocation (TET) 3, while 5 mC in the maternal pronucleus is protected by the binding of developmental pluripotency-associated (DPPA) 3 to histone H3 dimethyl Lys9 (H3K9me2). This process is essential for normal development, be...