2001 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Study of factors regulating the development of follicles, oocytes and embryos
| Project/Area Number |
12671576
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Obstetrics and gynecology
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| Research Institution | Yamagata University |
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Principal Investigator |
SAITO Hidekazu School of Medicine, Yamagata University, Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (90125766)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KAWACHIYA Satoshi School of Medicine, Yamagata University, Assistant, 医学部, 助手 (30322001)
SAITO Takakazu School of Medicine, Yamagata University, Assistant, 医学部, 助手 (00272071)
NAKAHARA Kenji School of Medicine, Yamagata University, Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (80250934)
TAKAHASHI Toshifumi School of Medicine, Yamagata University, Assistant, 医学部, 助手 (20302292)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2000 – 2001
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| Keywords | quality of oocyte / oxidative stress / cell cycle / 8 OhdG / glutathione reductase |
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| Research Abstract |
Apoptosis, telomerase and oxidative stress are phenomena strongly associated with follicular development and ovulation. In follicles, during natural menstrual cycle, apoptosis occurs in granulosa cells and is correlated with the fate of follicles. We examined apoptosis in granulosa cells during gonadotropin stimulated cycles, and found that, the incidence of apoptotic granulosa cells strongly reflected the quality of oocytes. We also found that telomerase was active in granulosa cells, with mural granulosa cells expressing higher telomerase activity. This seems to be a good indicator of cell proliferation ability.
In this study, we found that aging induced apoptosis in granulosa cells, reducing the number of developing follicles and also decreasing the quality of oocytes. Furthermore, the oxidative stress in granulosa cells during ovulation produces 8-OHdG, which reduces the quality of oocytes. While glutathione reductase is also expressed in granulosa cells and oocytes during ovulation. This means the oocytes and granulosa cells also have the mechanisms for eliminating the oxidative stress and maintaining the quality of oocytes. All these facts seem to indicate that these methods might be useful in the evaluation of the quality of oocytes and that further research could help in the improvement of oocyte quality.
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