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Roth Z. Heat stress reduces maturation and developmental capacity in bovine oocytes. Reprod Fertil Dev 2021; 33:66-75. [PMID: 38769677 DOI: 10.1071/rd20213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The ovarian pool of follicles, and their enclosed oocytes, is highly sensitive to hyperthermia. Heat-induced changes in small antral follicles can later manifest as impaired follicle development and compromised competence of the enclosed oocytes to undergo maturation, fertilisation and further development into an embryo. This review describes the main changes documented so far that underlie the oocyte damage. The review discusses some cellular and molecular mechanisms by which heat stress compromises oocyte developmental competence, such as impairment of nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation and mitochondrial function, changes in the expression of both nuclear and mitochondrial transcripts and the induction of apoptosis. The review emphasises that although the oocyte is exposed to heat stress, changes are also evident in the developed embryo. Moreover, the effect of heat stress is not limited to the summer; it carries over to the cold autumn, as manifest by impaired steroid production, low oocyte competence and reduced fertility. The spontaneous recovery of oocytes from the end of the summer through the autumn until the beginning of winter suggests that only subpopulations of follicles, rather than the entire ovarian reserve, are damaged upon heat exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zvi Roth
- Department of Animal Sciences, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University, POB 12 Rehovot, 76100, Israel
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Que EL, Duncan FE, Bayer AR, Philips SJ, Roth EW, Bleher R, Gleber SC, Vogt S, Woodruff TK, O'Halloran TV. Zinc sparks induce physiochemical changes in the egg zona pellucida that prevent polyspermy. Integr Biol (Camb) 2017; 9:135-144. [PMID: 28102396 DOI: 10.1039/c6ib00212a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
During fertilization or chemically-induced egg activation, the mouse egg releases billions of zinc atoms in brief bursts known as 'zinc sparks.' The zona pellucida (ZP), a glycoprotein matrix surrounding the egg, is the first structure zinc ions encounter as they diffuse away from the plasma membrane. Following fertilization, the ZP undergoes changes described as 'hardening', which prevent multiple sperm from fertilizing the egg and thereby establish a block to polyspermy. A major event in zona hardening is cleavage of ZP2 proteins by ovastacin; however, the overall physiochemical changes contributing to zona hardening are not well understood. Using X-ray fluorescence microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, and biological function assays, we tested the hypothesis that zinc release contributes to ZP hardening. We found that the zinc content in the ZP increases by 300% following activation and that zinc exposure modulates the architecture of the ZP matrix. Importantly, zinc-induced structural changes of the ZP have a direct biological consequence; namely, they reduce the ability of sperm to bind to the ZP. These results provide a paradigm-shifting model in which fertilization-induced zinc sparks contribute to the polyspermy block by altering conformations of the ZP matrix. This adds a previously unrecognized factor, namely zinc, to the process of ZP hardening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L Que
- The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, 2170 North Campus Drive, Silverman 4611, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
| | - Francesca E Duncan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 303 East Superior Street, Lurie 10-121, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
| | - Amanda R Bayer
- The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, 2170 North Campus Drive, Silverman 4611, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Steven J Philips
- The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, 2170 North Campus Drive, Silverman 4611, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. and Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Eric W Roth
- The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, 2170 North Campus Drive, Silverman 4611, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. and Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Reiner Bleher
- The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, 2170 North Campus Drive, Silverman 4611, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. and Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Sophie C Gleber
- X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
| | - Stefan Vogt
- X-ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
| | - Teresa K Woodruff
- The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, 2170 North Campus Drive, Silverman 4611, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 303 East Superior Street, Lurie 10-121, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. and Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Thomas V O'Halloran
- The Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, 2170 North Campus Drive, Silverman 4611, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. and Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA and Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
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Saadeldin IM, Kim SJ, Choi YB, Lee BC. Improvement of cloned embryos development by co-culturing with parthenotes: a possible role of exosomes/microvesicles for embryos paracrine communication. Cell Reprogram 2014; 16:223-34. [PMID: 24773308 DOI: 10.1089/cell.2014.0003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well known that embryos cultured in a group can create a microenvironment through secretion of autocrine and paracrine factors that can support and improve the embryos' development when compared to the embryos cultured individually. In this study, we used a co-culture system for paracrine communication between different kinds of embryos. The results showed that co-culture of porcine parthenogenetic (PA) embryos significantly improved the in vitro development of cloned (nuclear transfer, NT) embryos. To reveal the possible mechanism of communication between the two groups, we isolated exosomes/microvesicles (EXs/MVs) from the PA embryos conditioned medium (PA-CM) through differential centrifugation and identified them through transmission electron microscope and immunoflourescence against exosomal/membrane marker CD9. Furthermore, these EXs/MVs were found to contain mRNA of pluripotency genes (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, c-Myc, and Nanog), and the PKH67-labeled EXs/MVs could be internalized by the NT embryos. The current study demonstrates that cloned embryos' developmental competence can be improved through co-culturing with PA embryos and revealed, for the first time, that in vitro-produced embryos can secrete EXs/MVs as a possible communication tool within their microenvironment. Moreover, it provides a new paradigm for embryo-to-embryo communication in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Islam M Saadeldin
- 1 Department of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, College of Veterinary Medicine and the Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University , Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea
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