Molecular Biology of the Oocyte

促性腺发生：在第一次减数分裂的前期，雌性生殖细胞形成卵泡，在卵泡中，它们被新生儿卵巢中的体细胞包围。这些卵泡在减数分裂期间生长和不对称的细胞分裂确保排卵的卵子含有成功发育所必需的母体因子。出生后的男性生殖细胞在睾丸内维持一个精原细胞干细胞生态位，从中选择一组进行减数分裂，并在精子发生过程中转化为成熟精子。目前的研究主要探讨：1)FIGLA，雌性小鼠卵泡形成所需的生殖细胞特异性转录因子；2) SSNP1，维持精原细胞干细胞所需的生殖细胞核蛋白；3) BTBD18，一种确保粗线素piRNA表达的核蛋白，是精子发生所必需的。

Gonadogenesis: Female germ cells arrested at the prophase of the first meiotic division form follicles in which they are surrounded by somatic cells in the neonatal ovary. These follicles grow and asymmetrical cell division during meiosis ensures that ovulated eggs contain maternal factors necessary for successful development. Post-natal male germ cells maintain a spermatogonia stem cell niche within the testis from which cohorts are selected to undergo meiosis and are transmogrified into mature spermatozoa during spermiogenesis. Current studies investigate the roles of: 1) FIGLA, a germ cell specific transcription factor required for follicle formation in female mice; 2) SSNP1, a germ cell nuclear protein required for maintenance of spermatogonia stem cells; and 3) BTBD18, a nuclear protein that ensures pachytene piRNA expression necessary for spermiogenesis. Fertilization: The taxon-specificity of sperm-egg recognition in mammals that results in monospermic fertilization is mediated primarily by the zona pellucida, an extracellular matrix surrounding ovulated eggs. Although a simple structure of 3-4 glycoproteins, the molecular basis of this sperm binding to the zona pellucida has been controversial. Current studies investigate: 1) molecular requirements to support taxon-specific sperm-egg recognition on the surface of the zona pellucida; 2) mechanism that result in acrosome exocytosis necessary for gamete fusion; and 3) the processes by which post-fertilization polyspermy is prevented. Early Development: Transcription that terminates during meiotic maturation of mouse eggs resumes only after robust activation of the embryonic genome of the two-cell embryo. This interregnum between oocyte and embryonic gene transcription dictates a role for stored maternal factors. Using mouse transgenesis, the role of individual or complexes of maternal factors is studied in these processes. Current research investigates: 1) novel maternal effect genes that affect early mouse development; 2) the role of maternal organelles in the maternal to zygotic transition; and 3) the degradation of maternal components in activation of the embryonic genome.