Project description:Reproductive aging is a major cause of fertility decline, attributed to decreased oocyte quantity and competence. Follicular somatic cells play crucial roles in the growth and development of the oocyte by providing nutrients and regulatory factors. Here we investigated how oocyte quality is affected by its somatic cell environment by creating chimeric follicles, whereby an oocyte from one follicle was transplanted into and cultured within another follicle whose native oocyte was removed. Somatic cells within the chimeric follicle re-establish connections with the oocyte and support oocyte growth and maturation in a three-dimensional (3D) culture system. We show that young oocytes transplanted into aged follicles exhibited reduced meiotic maturation and developmental potential, whereas the young follicular environment significantly improved the rates of maturation, blastocyst formation and live birth of aged oocytes. Aged oocytes cultured within young follicles exhibited enhanced interaction with somatic cells, more youth-like transcriptome, remodelled metabolome, improved mitochondrial function, and enhanced fidelity of meiotic chromosome segregation. These findings provide the basis for a future follicular somatic cell-based therapy to treat age-associated female infertility.
Project description:Our aim with this work is to identify and quantify the miRNA profile of the human follicular fluid using a miRNA microarray approach in young and advanced-aged women and in follicles with different oocyte quality. Data collected in this study would be utilized in a future as a marker to predict the oocyte quality.
Project description:Proliferative and replicative senescent fibroblasts from aged human donors were reprogrammed towards pluripotency and re-differentiated in fibroblasts and then further analyzed for rejuvenation assessment. Comparison of microarrays were performed by non hierarchical clustering visualized in with Treeview software
Project description:The purpose of this study are to compare transcriptome profiling (RNA-seq) data in young and aged oocytes,and to evaluate the transcriptome alterataions after rapamycin treatment in aged oocytes. The sequencing libraries from young, aged and rapa-treated oocytes were generated according to protocols of Smart-seq2.Then cDNA libraries were checked on a Bioanalyzer instrument (Agilent) and the passed samples were finally sequenced by Illumina novaseq for 150-bp paired-end reads. RNA-seq data were aligned to the mouse genome mm10 using STAR 2-pass mode with the annotations of Ensembl version 90 and parameter ‘--outFilterMismatchNmax 6’. SAMtools was used to extract uniquely mapped reads with mapping quality more than or equal to 20. The number of reads mapped to each gene was counted using the HTSeq python package with the ‘union’ overlap resolution mode and –stranded = no. The expressions of genes were quantified as RPKM by edgeR . Genes with RPKM more than 1 in at least three control samples were considered as expressed. Only expressed genes were kept for the subsequent analysis. Differentially expressed genes were identified by DESeq2 using two criteria: fold change of expression should be higher than 2 and the adjusted p-value should be lower than 0.05. Enriched GO terms were obtained with P-value less than 0.05 from DAVID.The analysis of data revealed a total of 454 genes were significant differentially expressed during oocyte aging,of which, 242 genes were upregulated and 212 downregulated in aged oocytes.GO enrichment analysis showed that some of gene expressions were related to oxidation-reduction process, cell cycle, translation and mitochondrial functions. However, gene expression analysis revealed only 4 differently expressed genes between oocyte from rapa-treated and reproductively aged mice.
Project description:<p>The metabolic profile of follicular fluid (FF) has been investigated to look for biomarkers for oocyte quality. Resolvin E1 (RvE1), a potent pro-resolving mediator, was reported to have protective action in cell function. The study aimed to examine the predictive value of RvE1 for oocyte quality and to explore the cellular mechanism of RvE1 in improving oocyte competence. Metabolic profiles of 80 FF samples showed a higher level of RvE1 in group A (blastocysts scored ≥ B3BC and B3CB according to Gardner's blastocyst scoring system, N=36) than that of group B (blastocysts scored < B3BC and B3CB, N=44, P=.0018). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that RvE1 level in FF below 8.96 pg/ml (AUC:0.75; 95%CI: 0.64 – 0.86; P=.00012) could predict poor oocyte quality with specificity of 97.22%, suggesting RvE1 as a potential biomarker to exclude inferior oocytes. Besides, the level of RvE1 was found to be significantly lower in FF than in serum (57.49 to 17.62 pg/ml; P=.0037) and was gradually accumulated in the culture medium of cumulus cells (CCs) during cell culture, which indicated that RvE1 came from both blood exudates and local secretion. The in vitro experiment revealed the cellular mechanism of RvE1 in improving oocyte quality by decreasing the cumulus cell apoptotic rate and increasing cell viability and proliferation. It is the first time that the role of RvE1 in reproduction is explored. In conclusion, RvE1 is valuable as a potential exclusive biomarker for oocyte selection and plays a role in improving oocyte quality.</p>
Project description:Background: In mammals, female fertility is determined by the outcome of follicular development (ovulation or atresia). Follicular atresia is a complex physiological process that results in the degeneration of oocytes from the ovary. However, the molecular mechanisms of oocyte degeneration and key protein markers of follicular atresia remain unclear. In this study, we explored the complex transcriptional regulatory mechanisms and protein profiles in oocytes and follicular fluid in atretic follicle stages using single-cell RNA sequencing and tandem mass tag proteomics. Results: First, through paired analysis of different follicle development stages, we identified 175 atresia-specific genes and eight candidate oocyte-secreted factors, including PKG1, YTHDF2, and MYC. Meanwhile, we also characterized unique features of the oocyte transcriptional landscape in the atretic follicle stage that displayed cell death-related transcriptional changes and mechanisms, such as autophagy (TBK1 and IRS4), necroptosis (PKR), and apoptosis (MARCKS). Moreover, we identified atresia-specific genes, namely FTH1, TF, and ACSL4, which may participate in regulation of oocyte ferroptosis in atretic follicles through a series of mechanisms including ferritinophagy, ferritin transport, and lipid metabolism. Additionally, we uncovered 333 differentially expressed proteins that may coordinate follicular atresia and revealed key pathways, such as negative regulation of angiogenesis, metabolic pathways, and transcription and mRNA splicing, that lead to oocyte degeneration. Finally, by combining transcriptome and proteomics analyses, we identified two oocyte-secreted biomarkers, PGK1 and ANGPT2, that may be associated with follicular atresia. Conclusions: In conclusion, our work provides a comprehensive characterization of oocyte degeneration in ovine atretic follicles, which provides a basis for establishing an oocyte quality evaluation system and understanding the mechanism of follicular atresia in sheep, as well as an important reference for in vitro production of embryos.
Project description:Our aim with this work is to identify and quantify the miRNA profile of the human follicular fluid using a miRNA microarray approach in young and advanced-aged women and in follicles with different oocyte quality. Data collected in this study would be utilized in a future as a marker to predict the oocyte quality. This observational prospective study includes women enrolled in the assisted reproduction program of Hospital Universitari i Politècnic la Fe (Valencia, Spain). The study was accepted by IRB of this Hospital and all couples received informed consent of our study and assisted technique according to service protocols. The study was divided in two stages: Stage 1: Patients (n=21) who had follicles yielding oocytes with different degree of maturation were included (n=21). The follicular fluid samples from 21 patients were pooled in different groups. Expression of miRNA in the follicular fluids was compared within each patient according the degree of oocyte maturation. Stage 2: Patients were allocated into two groups according to the patient's age: advanced age (AA; >36 years old) and young age (YA; <36 years old). Follicular fluids from follicles containing MII oocytes were pooled and miRNA expression was subsequently compared. Please note that the MII samples with underscore (such as MII1 vs MII_1) indicate different pools so they are not the same sample, but we maintained the number because they correspond to paired samples pools for GV and MI.
Project description:Proliferative and replicative senescent fibroblasts from aged human donors were reprogrammed towards pluripotency and re-differentiated in fibroblasts and then further analyzed for rejuvenation assessment.