Nobiletin alleviates heat stress-induced meiotic arrest via restoring CDK1 and MAPK activity in porcine oocytes.

Heat stress is a critical environmental factor that disrupts porcine oocyte maturation and impairs embryonic development. This study investigated the protective role of Nobiletin under heat stress using an in vitro maturation model. Porcine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured under control conditions (38.

Knockdown of GRK5 induces mitochondrial hyperpolarization in porcine embryos.

In Brief: Ferroptosis and mitochondrial hyperpolarization, both linked to oxidative stress, critically compromise embryo development during in vitro culture. This study demonstrates that GRK5 inhibition induces ferroptosis and mitochondrial hyperpolarization, leading to impaired developmental capacity in porcine embryos.

Abstract: G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 5 (GRK5) regulates cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis.

HSP90 Is Required for Meiotic Resumption and Spindle Formation in Porcine Oocytes.

Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is a highly conserved molecular chaperone that is expressed in response to stress conditions. HSP90 has been found to be involved in the activation of proteins related to cell division and female reproduction. However, its specific role in porcine oocyte maturation, particularly in cytoskeletal formation, remains unclear.

ERK5 is essential for early porcine embryonic development by maintaining Endoplasmic Reticulum homeostasis.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5), a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family member, plays an important role in various biological processes, such as proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, survival, and cell regulation. However, studies on the effects of ERK5 on porcine preimplantation embryos are limited. In this study, to determine the function of ERK5 during porcine embryo development, ERK5 function was inhibited by adding the ERK5 inhibitor JWG-071.

IDH2 and GLUD1 depletion arrests embryonic development through an H4K20me3 epigenetic barrier in porcine parthenogenetic embryos.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) and glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (GLUD1) are key enzymes involved in the production of α-ketoglutarate (α-KG), a metabolite central to the tricarboxylic acid cycle and glutamine metabolism. In this study, we investigated the impact of IDH2 and GLUD1 on early porcine embryonic development following and knockdown (KD) via double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) microinjection. Results showed that KD reduced α-KG levels, leading to delayed embryonic development, decreased blastocyst formation, increased apoptosis, reduced blastomere proliferation, and pluripotency.

Transcriptome analysis of the effects of high temperature on zygotic genome activation in porcine embryos.

Damage to the development of porcine gametes and embryos caused by high temperatures (HT) is one of the main reasons for the decline in the economic benefits of the livestock industry. Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) marks the beginning of gene expression programs in mammalian pre-implantation embryos. In pigs, ZGA occurs at the 4-cell (4 C) stage, indicating that correct gene expression at this stage plays an important regulatory role in embryonic development.

MAT2A is essential for zygotic genome activation by maintaining of histone methylation in porcine embryos.

Methionine adenosyltransferase 2A (MAT2A) is an essential enzyme in the methionine cycle that generates S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) by reacting with methionine and ATP. SAM acts as a methyl donors for histone and DNA methylation, which plays key roles in zygotic genome activation (ZGA). However, the effects of MAT2A on porcine ZGA remain unclear.

G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase 2 Inhibition Induces Meiotic Arrest by Disturbing Ca Release in Porcine Oocytes.

G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) interacts with Gβγ and Gαq, subunits of G-protein alpha, to regulate cell signalling. The second messenger inositol trisphosphate, produced by activated Gαq, promotes calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and regulates maturation-promoting factor (MPF) activity. This study aimed to investigate the role of GRK2 in MPF activity during the meiotic maturation of porcine oocytes.

In Vivo-Matured Oocyte Resists Post-Ovulatory Aging through the Hub Genes and in Pigs.

Assisted reproduction technology (ART) procedures are often impacted by post-ovulatory aging (POA), which can lead to reduced fertilization rates and impaired embryo development. This study used RNA sequencing analysis and experimental validation to study the similarities and differences between in vivo- and vitro-matured porcine oocytes before and after POA. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between fresh in vivo-matured oocyte (F_vivo) and aged in vivo-matured oocyte (A_vivo) and DEGs between fresh in vitro-matured oocyte (F_vitro) and aged in vitro-matured oocyte (A_vitro) were intersected to explore the co-effects of POA.

The effects of repeated freezing and thawing on bovine sperm morphometry and function.

Refreezing the remaining genetic resources after in vitro fertilization (IVF) can conserve genetic materials. However, the precise damage inflicted by repeated freezing and thawing on bovine sperm and its underlying mechanism remain largely unexplored. Thus, this study investigates the impact of repeated freeze-thaw cycles on sperm.

Nobiletin enhances mitochondrial function by regulating SIRT1/PGC-1α signaling in porcine oocytes during in vitro maturation.

Nobiletin is a natural flavonoid found in citrus fruits with beneficial effects, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and anti-oxidation effects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether nobiletin improves mitochondrial function in porcine oocytes and examine the underlying mechanism. Oocytes enclosed by cumulus cells were cultured in TCM-199 for 44 h with 0.

β-hydroxybutyrate impairs bovine oocyte maturation via pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) associated energy metabolism abnormality.

Ketosis is one of the most frequent and costly metabolic disorders in high-producing dairy cows, and negatively associated with the health and reproductive performance of bovine. Ketosis is mainly caused by the accumulation of ketone body β-hydroxybutyric acid and its diagnosis is based on β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) concentration in blood. In this study, we investigated the effects of βHB on bovine oocyte maturation in the concentration of subclinical (1.

Tetrabromobisphenol Exposure Impairs Bovine Oocyte Maturation by Inducing Mitochondrial Dysfunction.

Tetrabromobisphenol (TBBPA) is the most widely used brominated flame retardant in the world and displays toxicity to humans and animals. However, few studies have focused on its impact on oocyte maturation. Here, TBBPA was added to the culture medium of bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) to examine its effect on oocytes.

Presence of ginsenoside re during in vitro maturation protects porcine oocytes from heat stress.

Heat stress (HS) affects the development of porcine gametes and embryos negatively, induces the decrease of reproductive ability significantly, threatens global pig production. Ginsenoside Re (GRe), is a main bioactive component of ginseng, shows very specific anti-apoptotic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. To investigate the alleviating effect of GRe on the in vitro maturation of porcine oocyte under the HS, the polar body extrusion rate, intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH), ATP content, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were assessed.