Cyclic AMP-elevating Agents Promote Cumulus Cell Survival and Hyaluronan Matrix Stability, Thereby Prolonging the Time of Mouse Oocyte Fertilizability.

ABSTRACT: Cumulus cells sustain the development and fertilization of the mammalian oocyte. These cells are retained around the oocyte by a hyaluronan-rich extracellular matrix synthesized before ovulation, a process called cumulus cell-oocyte complex (COC) expansion. Hyaluronan release and dispersion of the cumulus cells progressively occur after ovulation, paralleling the decline of oocyte fertilization. We show here that, in mice, postovulatory changes of matrix are temporally correlated to cumulus cell death. Cumulus cell apoptosis and matrix disassembly also occurred in ovulated COCs cultured in vitro. COCs expanded in vitro with FSH or EGF underwent the same changes, whereas those expanded with 8-bromo-adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (8-Br-cAMP) maintained integrity for a longer time. It i

SUBMITTER: Di Giacomo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4759163 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature