Oviductal motile cilia are essential for oocyte pickup but dispensable for sperm and embryo transport.

ABSTRACT: Mammalian oviducts play an essential role in female fertility by picking up ovulated oocytes and transporting and nurturing gametes (sperm/oocytes) and early embryos. However, the relative contributions to these functions from various cell types within the oviduct remain controversial. The oviduct in mice deficient in two microRNA (miRNA) clusters (miR-34b/c and miR-449) lacks cilia, thus allowing us to define the physiological role of oviductal motile cilia. Here, we report that the infundibulum without functional motile cilia failed to pick up the ovulated oocytes. In the absence of functional motile cilia, sperm could still reach the ampulla region, and early embryos managed to migrate to the uterus, but the efficiency was reduced. Further transcriptomic analyses revealed

SUBMITTER: Yuan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8179221 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature