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Manipulation and In Vitro Maturation of Xenopus laevis Oocytes, Followed by Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, to Study Embryonic Development
Published on: February 9, 2015
Growth hormone and in vitro maturation of rhesus macaque oocytes and subsequent embryo development
Jenna K Nyholt de Prada1, Catherine A VandeVoort
1California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Roads 98 and Hutchison, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Purpose:
The objective of this study was to use a nonhuman primate model to examine the effects of growth hormone (GH) on oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM).
Methods:
Immunocytochemistry confirmed the presence of GH receptors in rhesus cumulus oocyte complexes and the cytoplasm of embryonic blastomeres. Recombinant human GH (r-hGH) was added to IVM medium and cumulus expansion, nuclear maturation, cytoplasmic maturation and embryo development were analyzed.
Results:
Cumulus expansion was highest in the presence of 1 and 10 ng/ml r-hGH. The addition of r-hGH during IVM increased the percentage of embryos progressing to at least the 9-16 cell stage. In a separate study, 100 ng/ml r-hGH was supplemented to IVM and embryo culture medium and no effect was observed.
Conclusions:
The presence of GH receptors along with increased cumulus expansion and embryos progressing to the 9-16 cell stage supports the hypothesis that r-hGH may be involved in oocyte maturation.
