98%
921
2 minutes
20
Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) are gaining more importance for both human fertility treatments and veterinary purposes. Furthermore, horses and other big mammals can be used as animal models for research in fertility and reproduction studies. In recent years, improvements in the efficiency and convenience of ovum pick-up (OPU), in vitro maturation (IVM), and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) techniques in horses allowed the use of ARTs as routine research and commercial procedures. However, improvements are still needed to increase the rate of successful oocyte IVM, as different laboratories use different protocols with variable maturation rates. Here, we present the protocol that we optimized for in vitro maturation of equine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs), which is suitable for maturing oocytes for in vitro embryo production and obtaining mature oocytes for research purposes.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-4658-8_2 | DOI Listing |
Zygote
September 2025
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Manipulation of Oocyte and Preantral Follicles (LAMOFOPA), State University of Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
This work investigated the effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles functionalized with curcumin (ZnO+CUR) supplementation during the maturation (IVM) of bovine oocytes on the embryo production and the cellular antioxidant response. A total of 1,625 cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were cultured in the maturation medium in the absence (0 µM - control) or presence of different concentrations of ZnO+CUR (3 µM, 6 µM or 12 µM). After IVM, COCs were destined either to 1) embryo production or 2) analysis of reactive oxygen species production, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, catalase (CAT) activity and total antioxidant capacity (FRAP).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnim Sci J
September 2025
Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of re-vitrification at the pronuclear (PN) stage of porcine embryos generated from vitrified oocytes on subsequent development and to clarify if re-vitrification is more feasible at the PN stage or at the blastocyst stage. Immature porcine oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage were vitrified/warmed and subjected to in vitro maturation, parthenogenetic activation (PA), and embryo culture. Subsequent parthenotes were either cultured without re-vitrification for 6 days (GV-vit group) or were re-vitrified 8 h after PA at the PN stage (GV-vit/PN-revit group), and after warming, cultured for 6 days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProteomics Clin Appl
September 2025
Institute of Biochemistry, Center for Preventive Doping Research, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Purpose: Hormonal contraceptives are linked to a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms. Given their popularity in Western countries, understanding the biochemical effects on neuronal cells is crucial to minimizing mental health risks.
Experimental Design: Neural progenitor cells were treated with ethinyl estradiol (EE) and levonorgestrel (LNG), two synthetic sex hormones commonly used in oral contraception, and S-23, a selective androgen receptor modulator developed as a potential synthetic sex hormone for male hormonal contraception.
Anim Sci J
September 2025
Department of Animal Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.
This study investigates the effects of L-carnitine on nuclear maturation and fertilization in cattle and goat oocytes. Ovaries were collected from females with poor reproductive efficiency in the tropical climate, and cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were retrieved from large antral follicles. COCs were cultured with varying concentrations of L-carnitine (0, 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeukemia
September 2025
Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML) is a heterogeneous malignancy driven by diverse cytogenetic mutations. While identification of cytogenetic lesions improved risk stratification, prognostication remains inadequate with 30% of standard-risk patients experiencing relapse within 5 years. To deeply characterize pAML heterogeneity and identify poor outcome-associated blast cell profiles, we performed an analysis on 708,285 cells from 164 bone marrow biopsies of 95 patients and 11 healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF