Effect of Oocyte Quality Assessed by Brilliant Cresyl Blue (BCB) Staining on Cumulus Cell Expansion and Sonic Hedgehog Signaling in Porcine during In Vitro Maturation

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Hyo-Gu Kang¹  Bo-Woong Sim¹  Pil-Soo Jeong¹  Sanghoon Lee¹  Bong-Seok Song¹  Tsevelmaa Nanjidsuren¹  Sun-Uk Kim¹  YeungBae Jin²  Sang-Rae Lee² 

[1] Futuristic Animal Resource & Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chungcheongbuk-do 28116, Korea;National Primate Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chungcheongbuk-do 28116, Korea;

关键词: oocyte quality;    brilliant cresyl blue;    cumulus cell expansion;    Sonic hedgehog signaling;    apoptosis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms21124423

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) staining is used to select developmentally competent cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) for in vitro maturation (IVM). However, limited attention has been paid to what drives the higher developmental competence of BCB+ COCs. Sonic hedgehog signaling (SHH) is an important signaling pathway for ovarian follicular development and oocyte maturation. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of oocyte quality assessed by BCB staining on cumulus cell expansion, oocyte nuclear maturation, subsequent embryo development, apoptosis levels, and SHH signaling protein expression, in porcine COCs. After IVM, BCB+ COCs exhibited a significantly higher proportion of complete cumulus cell expansion and metaphase II rate in oocytes than BCB- COCs. After in vitro fertilization, the BCB+ group showed a significantly higher monospermy rate, fertilization efficiency, percentage of cleavage and blastocyst formation, with a higher total cell number and a lower apoptosis in blastocysts as compared with the BCB- group. Furthermore, significantly lower apoptosis levels and a higher expression of SHH-signaling proteins in COCs were observed, before and after IVM. In conclusion, high-quality oocytes had a greater potential to expand their surrounding cumulus cells with active SHH signaling and a lower apoptosis. This could provide COCs with a proper environment for maturation, thereby leading to a better subsequent embryo development.

【 授权许可】

Unknown