Molecular and cellular control of oocyte maturation in mammals

哺乳动物卵母细胞成熟的分子和细胞控制

• 批准号: G1001705-E01/1
• 负责人: John Carroll
• 金额: $ 231.52万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2011 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=G1001705-E01%2F1
• 关键词: Molecular; cellular; control; oocyte; maturation

The ability to produce a healthy fertile egg is essential for reproduction. Problems associated with the development of eggs are a major cause of infertility and early embryo loss (miscarriage). One of the reasons why eggs are so vulnerable is that they go through a specialised process known as meiosis. This process starts during foetal life and does not finish until after the egg is fertilized; more than 40 years later in some cases. Furthermore, women are born with all the eggs that will be available for her reproductive lifespan; no new eggs can be made. In meiosis the egg stops and starts at different stages but spends most of its life in a so-called ?dormant? state in the ovary. At some point the egg starts to grow increasing in diameter by 5 fold and in volume by about 300 fold to become one of the largest cells in the body (one-tenth of a millimetre across). Through all of this process the egg remains arrested in development and it is not until just before ovulation that the egg continues meiosis and halves the number of chromosomes. This meiotic division is prone to errors and is the single main reason why there is such a dramatic decrease in fertility as women get older, particularly over the age of 40. We are using mouse eggs to try to understand how meiosis works so that we can understand more about how to keep eggs arrested and healthy in the ovary and how they can go through the meiotic division without errors that cause poor quality embryos. Advances in our research are communicated in scientific journals, specialist websites and by press releases to the mainstream media. This way we aim to keep scientists, those with special interest and the public aware of our MRC funded research.

产生健康肥沃卵的能力对于繁殖至关重要。与卵的发展相关的问题是不育和早期胚胎丧失（流产）的主要原因。鸡蛋如此脆弱的原因之一是它们经历了一种被称为减数分裂的专业过程。这个过程始于胎儿的生命，直到卵受精后才结束。 40多年后，在某些情况下。此外，妇女天生中有所有可用于生殖寿命的卵。没有新的鸡蛋。在减数分裂中，鸡蛋停止并从不同的阶段开始，但在所谓的“休眠”中花费大部分时间？卵巢中的状态。在某个时候，鸡蛋的直径增加了5倍，体积增加了约300倍，成为体内最大的细胞之一（遍布一毫米的十分之一）。通过所有这些过程，卵在发育中仍被捕捉到，直到排卵之前，卵才继续减数分裂并将染色体的数量减半。这种减数分裂的部门容易出错，这是使妇女变老，尤其是40岁以上的生育能力如此急剧下降的主要原因。我们正在使用鼠标来尝试了解减数分裂的工作原理，以便我们更多地了解如何使卵在卵巢中被捕获和健康的卵在卵巢中被捕获和健康，并且如何通过较少质量的胚胎造成质量较差的胚胎分裂，使他们能够通过较差的胚胎造成质量较差。我们的研究进展是在科学期刊，专业网站和主流媒体的新闻稿中传达的。这样，我们旨在使科学家，特别感兴趣的科学家和公众意识到我们的MRC资助研究。