Mammalian oocytes go through a long and complex developmental process while acquiring
the competencies that are required for fertilization and embryogenesis. Recent advances in …

BACKGROUND In a growth phase occurring during most of folliculogenesis, the oocyte
produces and accumulates molecules and organelles that are fundamental for the …

Fertilizable eggs develop from diploid precursor cells termed oocytes. Once every menstrual
cycle, an oocyte matures into a fertilizable egg in the ovary. To this end, the oocyte …

Mammalian oocytes assemble a bipolar acentriolar microtubule spindle to segregate
chromosomes during asymmetric division. There is increasing evidence that actin in the …

BACKGROUND During meiosis, mammalian oocytes undergo two successive cell divisions
without an intermediate replicative phase. This brief period, called 'meiotic maturation', is …

Female meiosis in higher organisms consists of highly asymmetric divisions, which retain
most maternal stores in the oocyte for embryo development. Asymmetric partitioning of the …

To better understand the differences in cytoskeletal organization between in vivo (IVO) and
in vitro (IVM) matured oocytes, we analyzed remodeling of the centrosome-microtubule …

Mammalian oocytes exhibit a series of cell cycle transitions that coordinate the penultimate
events of meiosis with the onset of embryogenesis at fertilization. The execution of these cell …

Errors in chromosome segregation in oocytes and early embryos lead to embryo
aneuploidy, which contributes to early pregnancy loss. At the heart of chromosome …

Mammalian oocyte maturation involves two successive rounds of extremely asymmetric cell
divisions (known as polar body extrusion) to generate a functional haploid egg. Successful …