Regulation of human oocyte maturation in vivo during the final maturation of follicles.

Study Question: Which substances and signal transduction pathways are potentially active downstream to the effect of FSH and LH in the regulation of human oocyte maturation in vivo?

Summary Answer: The regulation of human oocyte maturation appears to be a multifactorial process in which several different signal transduction pathways are active.

What Is Known Already: Many studies in animal species have provided insight into the mechanisms that govern the final maturation of oocytes. Currently, these studies have identified several different mechanisms downstream to the effects of FSH and LH.

Oocyte diameter predicts the maturation rate of human immature oocytes collected ex vivo.

Purpose: To study the impact of oocyte diameter and cumulus cell mass on the potential for final maturation of immature human oocytes in vitro.

Methods: Immature oocytes (n = 1563) from 75 women undergoing fertility preservation by ovarian tissue cryopreservation (14-41 years) were collected. After preparation of the ovarian cortex for freezing, immature oocytes were collected from the surplus medulla.

The First Dipeptide Mimetic of Neurotrofin-3: Design and Pharmacological Properties.

The dimeric dipeptide mimetic hexamethylenediamide bis-(N-monosuccinyl-L-asparaginyl-L-asparagine) (GTS-301) was created on the basis of the structure of the exposed region of the neurotrophin-3 4th loop. The new compound, as well as the full-length neurotrophin, activated the TrkC and TrkB receptors. GTS-301 showed neuroprotective activity in experiments on HT-22 mouse hippocampal cells under conditions of oxidative stress and glutamate toxicity at concentrations of 10 and 10 M, respectively, and antidepressant-like activity in the forced swimming test on mice with 7-day intraperitoneal administration in doses of 10-40 mg/kg.

Validating Reference Gene Expression Stability in Human Ovarian Follicles, Oocytes, Cumulus Cells, Ovarian Medulla, and Ovarian Cortex Tissue.

Human ovarian cells are phenotypically very different and are often only available in limited amounts. Despite the fact that reference gene (RG) expression stability has been validated in oocytes and other ovarian cells from several animal species, the suitability of a single universal RG in the different human ovarian cells and tissues has not been determined. The present study aimed to validate the expression stability of five of the most used RGs in human oocytes, cumulus cells, preantral follicles, ovarian medulla, and ovarian cortex tissue.

Human Oocyte Morphology and Outcomes of Infertility Treatment: a Systematic Review.

Oocyte morphology assessment is easy to implement in any laboratory with possible quality grading prior to fertilization. At present, comprehensive oocyte morphology scoring is not performed as a routine procedure. However, it may augment chances for successful treatment outcomes if a correlation with certain dysmorphisms can be proven.