Evidence that a defective spindle assembly checkpoint is not the primary cause of maternal age-associated aneuploidy in mouse eggs.

ABSTRACT: Advanced maternal age is unequivocally associated with increased aneuploidy in human eggs and infertility, but the molecular basis for this phenomenon is unknown. An age-dependent deterioration of the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) has been proposed as a probable cause of aneuploidy. Accurate chromosome segregation depends on correct chromosome attachment to spindle microtubules, and the SAC provides time for this process by delaying anaphase onset until all chromosomes are stably attached. If SAC function decreases with age, oocytes from reproductively old mice would enter anaphase of meiosis I (AI) prematurely, leading to chromosome segregation errors and aneuploid eggs. Although intuitively appealing, this hypothesis is largely untested. We used a natural reproductive aging mouse mod

SUBMITTER: Duncan FE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2754889 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature