JSAR Outstanding Research Award. In vitro growth of mammalian oocytes

The mammalian ovary contains a huge number of small follicles of various sizes, and each follicle encloses a small oocyte. Only a small number of non-growing oocytes (30 microm in the pig and cow) grow to their final size (120 microm), mature, and are ovulated. In vitro growth (IVG) culturing of small oocytes will provide a new source of mature oocytes for livestock production. Using the IVG culture system, non-growing mouse oocytes in primordial follicles grow to their final size and acquire full developmental competence. Among large animals, babies were produced from ovarian oocytes by IVG culture only in the cow. However, the oocytes used were not non-growing ones but at the mid-growth stage (90-99 microm in diameter) in early antral follicles. Xenotransplantation of the follicles at an early stage to immuno-deficient mice is a substitute for an effective long-term IVG culture of much smaller oocytes. IVG and xenotransplantation of small oocytes at a specific size will provide a new understanding of the mechanisms regulating oogenesis and folliculogenesis in the complex mammalian ovary.