Signaling pathways in insulin- and IGF-I mediated oocyte maturation in lower vertebrates

The endocrine control of oocyte maturation in fish and amphibians has proved to be a valuable model for investigating the rapid and non-genomic steroid actions at the cell surface. Considerable progress has made over the last decade in elucidating signaling pathways in steroid-induced oocyte maturation. In addition to steroids, various growth factors have also been reported to be involved in this process and progress being made to elucidate their mechanism of actions. Exposure of fully-grown oocytes to steroids or growth factors (insulin/IGFs) initiates various signaling cascade, leading to formation and activation of maturation-promoting factor (MPF), a key enzyme that catalyzes entry into M-phase of meiosis I and II. Whereas the function of MPF in promoting oocyte maturation is ubiquitous, there are differences in signaling pathways between steroids- and growth factors-induced oocyte maturation in amphibian and fish. Here, we have reviewed the recent advances on the signaling pathways in insulin- and IGF-I-induced oocyte maturation in these two groups of non-mammalian vertebrates. New findings demonstrating the involvement of PI3 kinase and MAP kinase in induction of oocyte maturation by insulin and IGF-I are presented.