In vitro follicle growth supports human oocyte meiotic maturation

Shuo Xiao, Jiyang Zhang, Megan M Romero, Kristin N Smith, Lonnie D Shea, Teresa K Woodruff, Shuo Xiao, Jiyang Zhang, Megan M Romero, Kristin N Smith, Lonnie D Shea, Teresa K Woodruff

Abstract

In vitro follicle growth is a potential approach to preserve fertility for young women who are facing a risk of premature ovarian failure (POF) caused by radiation or chemotherapy. Our two-step follicle culture strategy recapitulated the dynamic human follicle growth environment in vitro. Follicles developed from the preantral to antral stage, and, for the first time, produced meiotically competent metaphase II (MII) oocytes after in vitro maturation (IVM).

Figures

Figure 1. The two-step follicle culture strategy…
Figure 1. The two-step follicle culture strategy promoted follicle growth and hormone production.
(A) Average number of follicles collected from patients with or without previous cancer treatments. (B) Growth of follicles cultured only within alginate hydrogels or using the two-step culture strategy. (C–E) Hormone secretion from growing follicles cultured in alginate hydrogels or using the two-step strategy. (C) Estradiol, (D) Progesterone, and (E) AMH. *p < 0.05 compared to follicles culture with alginate hydrogels only.
Figure 2. The two-step follicle culture strategy…
Figure 2. The two-step follicle culture strategy supported human oocyte meiotic maturation.
(A) Representative images of an MII oocyte with the first polar body extrusion after IVM, and its corresponding meiotic spindle (green), actin (red), and chromosomes (blue) after immunofluorescence staining. (B) Cumulus expansion of oocytes that did or did not reach MII. (C) Expression of cumulus expansion markers after IVM. The housekeeping gene Gapdh (Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase) was used as a loading control and Actb (Beta-actin) was used as a positive control. *p < 0.05 compared to cumulus cells with oocytes reach MII; black arrow: (A) polar body of MII oocyte and (B) cumulus cells tightly associated to the egg that did not reach MII; scale bar: 10 μm in A and 100 μm in B.

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Source: PubMed

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