Maturation and culture affect the metabolomic profile of oocytes and follicular cells in young and old mares.

Oocytes and follicular somatic cells within the ovarian follicle are altered during maturation and after exposure to culture . In the present study, we used a nontargeted metabolomics approach to assess changes in oocytes, cumulus cells, and granulosa cells from dominant, follicular-phase follicles in young and old mares. Samples were collected at three stages associated with oocyte maturation: (1) GV, germinal vesicle stage, prior to the induction of follicle/oocyte maturation ; (2) MI, metaphase I, maturing, collected 24 h after induction of maturation ; and (3) MIIC, metaphase II, mature with collection 24 h after induction of maturation plus 18 h of culture . Samples were analyzed using gas and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry only when all three stages of a specific cell type were obtained from the same mare. Significant differences in metabolite abundance were most often associated with MIIC, with some of the differences appearing to be linked to the final stage of maturation and others to exposure to culture medium. While differences occurred for many metabolite groups, some of the most notable were detected for energy and lipid metabolism and amino acid abundance. The study demonstrated that metabolomics has potential to aid in optimizing culture methods and evaluating cell culture additives to support differences in COCs associated with maternal factors.