Follistatin Rescues Blastocyst Development of Poor Quality Porcine Cumulus-Oocyte Complexes by Delaying Meiotic Resumption With Decreased cGMP.

Mammalian oocytes resume maturation when removed from follicles and cultured in vitro. During folliculogenesis, oocytes are bathed in follicular fluid (FF), which provides an important and specialized microenvironment for oocyte competence. Follistatin (FST) is one component of FF that may play a role in oocyte maturation and embryo development.

Effect of Acteoside as a Cell Protector to Produce a Cloned Dog.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a well-known laboratory technique. The principle of the SCNT involves the reprogramming a somatic nucleus by injecting a somatic cell into a recipient oocyte whose nucleus has been removed. Therefore, the nucleus donor cells are considered as a crucial factor in SCNT.

Effect of acteoside on the re-localization and abnormal morphology of mitochondria in porcine oocytes during in vitro maturation.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of acteoside, an antioxidant, on in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes to improve early parthenogenetic embryonic developmental competence.

Methods: Porcine immature oocytes (total 770) were cultured in IVM medium with acteoside at various concentrations, 0 (control), 10, 30, and 50 μM. Each group was assessed for maturation and subsequent development rates, reactive oxygen species (ROS) level (15 oocytes per group and four independent experiments performed), ultrastructure observation (15 oocytes per group), mitochondrial activity (30 oocytes per groups and three independent experiments performed), and expression patterns of apoptosis-related genes (100 expended parthenogenetic embryos per group and three independent experiment performed).