Oocyte ageing and epigenetics

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Zhao-Jia Ge¹, Heide Schatten², Cui-Lian Zhang³

¹Reproductive Medicine CenterHenan Provincial People's Hospital, #7 Weiwu Road, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450003, People's Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Reproductive BiologyInstitute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, #1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of ChinaReproductive Medicine CenterPeople's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450003, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Veterinary PathobiologyUniversity of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA Reproductive Medicine CenterHenan Provincial People's Hospital, #7 Weiwu Road, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450003, People's Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Reproductive BiologyInstitute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, #1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of ChinaReproductive Medicine CenterPeople's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450003, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Veterinary PathobiologyUniversity of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA Reproductive Medicine CenterHenan Provincial People's Hospital, #7 Weiwu Road, Jinshui District, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450003, People's Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Reproductive BiologyInstitute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, #1 Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of ChinaReproductive Medicine CenterPeople's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province 450003, People's Republic of ChinaDepartment of Veterinary PathobiologyUniversity of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA.

Reproduction (Cambridge, England)

|November 14, 2014

Abstract:

It has become a current social trend for women to delay childbearing. However, the quality of oocytes from older females is compromised and the pregnancy rate of older women is lower. With the increased rate of delayed childbearing, it is becoming more and more crucial to understand the mechanisms underlying the compromised quality of oocytes from older women, including mitochondrial dysfunctions, aneuploidy and epigenetic changes. Establishing proper epigenetic modifications during oogenesis and early embryo development is an important aspect in reproduction. The reprogramming process may be influenced by external and internal factors that result in improper epigenetic changes in germ cells. Furthermore, germ cell epigenetic changes might be inherited by the next generations. In this review, we briefly summarise the effects of ageing on oocyte quality. We focus on discussing the relationship between ageing and epigenetic modifications, highlighting the epigenetic changes in oocytes from advanced-age females and in post-ovulatory aged oocytes as well as the possible underlying mechanisms.

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In human women, oogenesis produces one mature egg cell or ovum for every precursor cell that enters meiosis. This process differs in two unique ways from the equivalent procedure of spermatogenesis in males. First, meiotic divisions during oogenesis are asymmetric, meaning that a large oocyte (containing most of the cytoplasm) and minor polar body are produced as a result of meiosis I, and again following meiosis II. Since only oocytes will go on to form embryos if fertilized, this unequal...

Oogenesis

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Oogenesis, the process of developing egg cells (female gametes), occurs within the ovaries and is fundamental to female fertility. This sequence begins during fetal development when diploid oogonia in the developing ovaries undergo mitotic divisions to produce primary oocytes. By birth, these primary oocytes enter prophase I of meiosis but become arrested in this stage, remaining suspended until puberty.
Each primary oocyte is surrounded by a layer of pre-granulosa cells, forming what is...

Meiosis I

Meiosis I

Meiosis is the division of a diploid cell into haploid cells forming sperm and eggs in animals through differentiation. Meiosis I is the first stage of meiosis, where the genetic recombination of homologous chromosomes and the reduction of the ploidy level by half occurs.
Prophase I is the most extended and complex step of meiosis I characterized by synapsis, chromosome pairing, and recombination of the homologous chromosomes. This process is facilitated by a proteinaceous structure called the...

Aging

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