Chromosome condensation activity (CCA) in bisected C57BL/6JxCBA mouse oocytes

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Fulka ◽  
N Ouhibi ◽  
J Fulka ◽  
J Kanka ◽  
RM Moor

Chromosome condensation activity (CCA) has been analysed in C57BL/6Jx CBA mouse oocytes bisected (i) shortly after germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), (ii) in metaphase I (MI) and (iii) in metaphase II (MII) into two equal halves (nucleated, enucleated) which were thereafter fused to S- or G2-phase 4-cell-stage mouse blastomeres. In nucleated halves, premature chromosome condensation (PCC) in transplanted nuclei was always induced irrespective of the cell cycle stage of the blastomere, whereas in enucleated halves only G2 nuclei underwent PCC after transplantation. Premature chromosome condensation in S-phase nuclei was induced only in enucleated halves produced shortly after GVBD. Although S-phase nuclei transplanted to MI or MII enucleated halves remained intact, their capacity to synthesize DNA was invariably suppressed. When spindles were destroyed by preincubation of the oocytes in colcemid before bisection, both nucleated and enucleated halves produced at MI or MII induced PCC of both G2- or S-phase nuclei. These results demonstrate that chromosome condensation activity in mammalian oocytes is compartmentalized rather than uniformly distributed across the cell, and that the enucleation of mammalian oocytes before nuclear transplantation may, under some conditions, influence the levels of CCA and subsequent response of introduced nuclei to cytoplasmic factors.

1986 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-138
Author(s):  
R. Czolowska ◽  
M. Waksmundzka ◽  
J.Z. Kubiak ◽  
A.K. Tarkowski

Fusion of large and small karyoplasts produced from metaphase II mouse oocytes with interphase blastomeres from 2-cell and 8-cell embryos (volume ratio of partners, 1:1) results in premature chromosome condensation (PCC) of the interphase nucleus in the majority of the fusion products (hybrids). Fused under the same experimental protocol, oocyte-derived cytoplasts also induce PCC of the blastomere nucleus in the fusion products (cybrids) provided they originate from recently ovulated oocytes (141/2-15 h after injection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG)). In cytoplasts derived from older oocytes (16–20 h post-HCG) chromosome condensation activity gradually decreases with time as can be inferred from the increasing proportion of cybrids retaining interphase blastomere nuclei. However, even the oldest cytoplasts (19–20 h post-HCG) can induce PCC if the cytoplast volume significantly exceeds the volume of the interphase partner (7:1). We postulate that the condensation activity is predominantly bound to the nuclear apparatus (most probably to the chromosomes), and that in the cytoplasm of metaphase II mouse oocyte it decreases with post-ovulatory age.


1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 831-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
HJ Clarke ◽  
Y Masui

We have studied the chromosome condensation activity of mouse oocytes that have been inseminated during meiotic maturation. These oocytes remain unactivated, and in those penetrated by up to three or four sperm, each sperm nucleus is transformed, without prior development of a pronucleus, into metaphase chromosomes. However, those penetrated by more than four sperm never transform any of the nuclei into metaphase chromosomes (Clarke, H. J., and Y. Masui, 1986, J. Cell Biol. 102:1039-1046). We report here that, when the cytoplasmic volume of oocytes was doubled or tripled by cell fusion, up to five or eight sperm nuclei, respectively, could be transformed into metaphase chromosomes. Conversely, when the cytoplasmic volume was reduced by bisection of oocytes after the germinal vesicle (GV) had broken down, no more than two sperm could be transformed into metaphase chromosomes. Thus, the capacity of the oocyte cytoplasm to transform sperm nuclei to metaphase chromosomes was proportional to its volume. The contribution of the nucleoplasm of the GV and the cytoplasm outside the GV to the chromosome condensation activity was investigated by bisecting oocytes that contained a GV and then inseminating the nucleate and anucleate fragments. The anucleate fragments never induced sperm chromosome formation, indicating that GV nucleoplasm is required for this activity. In the nucleate fragments, the capacity to induce sperm chromosome formation was reduced as compared with whole oocytes, in spite of the fact that the fragments contained the entire GV nucleoplasm. This implies that non-GV cytoplasmic material also was required for chromosome condensation activity. When inseminated oocytes were incubated in the presence of puromycin, the sperm nuclei were transformed into interphase-like nuclei, but no metaphase chromosomes developed. However, when protein synthesis resumed, the interphase nuclei were transformed to metaphase chromosomes. These results suggest that the transformation of sperm nuclei to metaphase chromosomes in the cytoplasm of mouse oocytes requires both the nucleoplasm of the GV and non-GV cytoplasmic substances, including proteins synthesized during maturation.


Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 971-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Alexandre ◽  
A. Van Cauwenberge ◽  
Y. Tsukitani ◽  
J. Mulnard

Okadaic acid (OA), a potent inhibitor of types 1 and 2A protein phosphatases, was shown recently to induce chromatin condensation and germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) in mouse oocytes arrested at the dictyate stage by dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP), isobutyl methylxanthine (IBMX) and 12,13-phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu). We confirm these results using IBMX and another phorbol diester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and show that OA also bypasses the inhibitory effect of 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP). It has been concluded that protein phosphatases 1 and/or 2A (PP1, 2A), involved in the negative control of MPF activation, are thus operating downstream from both the protein kinase A and protein kinase C catalysed phosphorylation steps that prevent the breakdown of GV. Similar enzymatic activities are also able to counteract the general inhibition of protein phosphorylation. However, PP1 and/or PP2A are positively involved in the activation of pericentriolar material (PCM) into microtubule organizing centres (MTOCs). This explains the inhibitory effect of OA on spindle assembly. Finally, OA interferes with the integrity and/or function of actomyosin filaments. This results in a dramatic ruffling of the plasma membrane leading to the internalization of large vacuoles, the inhibition of chromosome centrifugal displacement and, consequently, the prevention of polar body extrusion.


2001 ◽  
Vol 286 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Woo Kim ◽  
Zee-Won Lee ◽  
ChangKyu Lee ◽  
Kyung Soon Im ◽  
Kwon-Soo Ha

Reproduction ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Marangos ◽  
John Carroll

Cdk1-cyclin B1 kinase activity drives oocytes through meiotic maturation. It is regulated by the phosphorylation status of cdk1 and by its spatial organisation. Here we used a cyclin B1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein to examine the dynamics of cdk1-cyclin B1 distribution during meiosis I (MI) in living mouse oocytes. Microinjection of cyclin B1-GFP accelerated germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) and, as previously described, overrides cAMP-mediated meiotic arrest. GVBD was pre-empted by a translocation of cyclin B1-GFP from the cytoplasm to the germinal vesicle (GV). After nuclear accumulation, cyclin B1-GFP localised to the chromatin. The localisation of cyclin B1-GFP is governed by nuclear import and export. In GV intact oocytes, cyclin export was demonstrated by showing that cyclin B1-GFP injected into the GV is exported to the cytoplasm while a similar size dextran is retained. Import was revealed by the finding that cyclin B1-GFP accumulated in the GV when export was inhibited using leptomycin B. These studies show that GVBD in mouse oocytes is sensitive to cyclin B1 abundance and that the changes in distribution of cyclin B1 contribute to progression through MI.


Zygote ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Kalous ◽  
Michal Kubelka ◽  
Jan Motlík

The effect of the p42/44 mitogen-activated kinase (MAPK) inhibitor, PD98059, on MAPK activation and meiosis resumption in mouse oocytes was studied. When germinal vesicle (GV)-stage denuded oocytes (DOs) were cultured continuously in 50 μM PD98059, germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) was postponed for 2-3 h. MAPK phosphorylation and activation was delayed as well. However, PD98059 did not impair histone H1 kinase activation. After 14 h of culture there was no significant difference in the rate of DOs reaching metaphase II (MII) arrest in either control or experimental conditions. The effect of PD98059 on MAPK inhibition was further tested in epidermal growth factor (EGF)-treated oocyte–cumulus complexes (OCCs). Exposure of GV-stage OCCs for 5 min to EGF (10 ng/ml) induced a considerable increase in MAPK phosphorylation. After OCCs were further cultured in 50 μM PD98059 a rapid dephosphorylation of MAPK was induced. Already after 1 min of treatment the non-phosphorylated form of MAPK dominated, indicating the high effectivity of PD98059. This result indicates that short EGF/PD98059 treatment of OCCs induced MAPK phosphorylation/dephosphorylation in cumulus cells only. As only a transient delay in MAPK phosphorylation and activation was observed in PD98059-treated DOs we conclude that there is also another PD98059-nonsensitive pathway(s) leading to MAPK activation in mouse oocytes. The data obtained suggest that meiosis resumption in mouse oocytes is somehow influenced by the MEK/MAPK activation pathway.


1986 ◽  
Vol 165 (2) ◽  
pp. 507-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elayne A. Bornslaeger ◽  
William T. Poueymirou ◽  
Peter Mattei ◽  
Richard M. Schultz

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