Gene expression and in vitro nuclear maturation in bovine cumulus oocyte complexes maturated in a medium supplemented with bovine fetal serum or bovine serum albumin
Araujo de Britto Velho, FernandaGrandi da Costa, BrunaDuarte Alcoba, DiegoLetícia da Rosa Braga, BiancaLouise Sandi Monroy, NathallieTavares Duarte de Oliveira, AlexandreFernando Felix Lopes, Rui
Background: The expansion and mucification of granulosa cells of the cumulus oophorus-oocyte complex (COC) is observed during the oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) as a result of the intense synthesis of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. These changes in cumulus aspect are indicative of maturation and may be influenced by oocyte-related factors and by IVM conditions. The objectives of the present study were (i) to assess the expression of gene transcripts that codify for the proteins hyaluronan synthase-2 (HAS2), link protein 1, connexin 43 and -actin in bovine cumulus oophorus-oocyte complexes (COCs) before and after IVM, and (ii) to determine nuclear maturation rates of oocytes submitted to IVM. Materials, Methods & Results: Bovine COCs obtained from abattoir-derived ovaries were analyzed and selected for morphological aspects and divided in three experimental groups: G1, COCs submitted to IVM; G2, COCs submitted to IVM in medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS); and G3, COCs submitted to IVM in medium supplemented with bovine serum albumin (BSA). After extraction of the messenger RNA (mRNA) of COCs, cDNA was extracted and fragments of the gene transcripts were amplified using the reverse transcription (RT) and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The RT-PCR products were electrophoresed in agarose gels and amplification intensity was quantified to obta
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