Protein expression in human cumulus cells as an indicator of blastocyst formation and pregnancy success.

Purpose: The goal for the present study was to implement a technique for protein extraction and identification in human cumulus cells (CCs).

Methods: Forty samples of CCs were collected after ovum pick-up from patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Samples were split into the blastocyst group (n = 10), including patients in which all embryos converted into blastocysts, and the non-blastocyst group (n = 10), including patients in which none of the embryos reached the blastocyst stage or the positive-pregnancy (n = 10) and negative-pregnancy group (n = 10).

Prediction of embryo implantation potential by mass spectrometry fingerprinting of the culture medium.

This study has evaluated the performance of a multivariate statistical model to predict embryo implantation potential by processing data from the chemical fingerprinting of culture medium samples used for human embryo culture. The culture medium for 113 embryos from 55 patients undergoing ICSI was collected after embryo transfer. The samples were split into positive (n=29) and negative (n=84) implantation groups according their implantation outcomes (100% or 0% implantation).

A chromosome 19 locus positively influences the number of retrieved oocytes during stimulated cycles in Brazilian women.

Purpose: To evaluate if several genetic loci that are associated with variation in normal menopause age and early menopause can account for a poor response to controlled ovarian stimulation.

Methods: A total of 71 patients age ≤35 years old who were undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection were genotyped for four genetic variants that are associated with normal variation in menopausal age and early menopause. The patients were divided into two groups based upon treatment response: a poor responder group (PR group, n = 21) and a normal responder group (NR group, n = 50).

Secretome of the preimplantation human embryo by bottom-up label-free proteomics.

A bottom-up label-free mass spectrometric proteomic strategy was used to analyse the protein profiles of the human embryonic secretome. Culture media samples used for embryonic culture of patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles were selected as a test case for this exploratory proof-of-principle study. The media were stored after embryo transfer and then pooled into positive (n = 8) and negative (n = 8) implantation groups.

Differential gene expression and developmental competence in in vitro produced bovine embryos.

The embryonic developmental block occurs at the 8-cell stage in cattle and is characterized by a lengthening of the cell cycle and an increased number of embryos that stop development. The maternal-embryonic transition arises at the same stage resulting in the transcription of many genes. Gene expression studies during this stage may contribute to the understanding of the physiological mechanisms involved in the maternal-embryonic transition.

Analysis of human papillomavirus prevalence and TP53 polymorphism in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is a disease associated with tobacco and alcohol abuse. There is evidence that the oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) may also be a risk for upper aerodigestive tract cancers. High-risk HPVs encode two early proteins, E6 and E7, that can bind to p53 and pRb, respectively, and induce its degradation or inactivation.