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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on July 21, 2005
Human Reproduction 2005 20(10):2946-2953; doi:10.1093/humrep/dei143
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

Embryology

Nucleocytoplasmic ratio of fully grown germinal vesicle oocytes is essential for mouse meiotic chromosome segregation and alignment, spindle shape and early embryonic development

Long-Bo Cui1,2, Xiu-Ying Huang1 and Fang-Zhen Sun1,3

1 Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080 and 2 Department of Biology, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, P.R.China

3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fzsun{at}genetics.ac.cn

BACKGROUND: This study examined the effect of nucleocytoplasmic ratio of fully grown germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes on meiotic chromosome segregation and alignment, spindle shape, Ca2+ oscillations and capacity of early embryonic development in mouse. METHODS: GV oocytes with reduced volume (equal to 1/5 to 4/5 of an intact oocyte) were made by micromanipulation to remove different amounts of cytoplasm, and then matured and fertilized in vitro. RESULTS: When >1/2 of GV oocyte cytoplasm was removed, the time-course of GV breakdown (GVBD) was delayed and oocyte maturation rate decreased significantly. Abnormal chromosome segregation rate increased if >1/2 of the cytoplasm was removed from the oocyte. Length and structure of meiotic spindle and chromosome alignment were also impaired by the reduction of cytoplasmic volume. Once matured in vitro, the oocytes could undergo Sr2+-induced Ca2+ oscillations and form pronuclei in a manner independent of nucleocytoplasmic ratio, but their ability to develop to 2-cell embryos was affected if >1/2 of their cytoplasm was removed from the GV oocytes. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that nucleocytoplasmic ratio is essential for normal meiotic chromosome segregation, spindle formation and chromosome alignment over the metaphase spindle, and development to 2-cell stage, for which 1/2 of the volume of the GV oocyte appears to be a threshold.

Key words: Ca2+ oscillations/chromosome mouse/cytoplasm/nucleocytoplasmic ratio


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