In spermatozoa collected after pellet swim up, when total dna fragmentation is higher than 15%, the normal morphologically spermatozoa population shows an increased dna damage

Study question: We investigated the DNA Fragmentation Index (DFI) in motile normal morphologically spermatozoa comparing samples with total DFI < 15% Vs ≥ 15% collected after pellet swim up Summary answer: In the case of DFI ≥15% the percentage of normal morphologically spermatozoa with fragmented DNA is significantly higher than the population with DFI < 15% What is known already: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is widely used in the treatment of male infertility. Only morphologically normal spermatozoa are mainly used by embryologists to fertilize an oocyte. Different papers have reported that spermatozoa with apparently normal morphology may have DNA fragmentation. These ev…

MITOCHONDRIAL MASS, DISTRIBUTION AND ACTIVITY DURING SEA URCHIN OOGENESIS

The sea urchin egg is a favourite model for studies of the molecular biology and physiology of fertilization and early development, yet we know sparingly little of its oocytes and of mitochondria behaviour during oogenesis. The process of oogenesis in most echinoderms is asynchronous so each ovary lobe has hundreds of oocytes at all stages of development. At the beginning of oogenesis, the oocyte is about 10 µm in diameter. During the vitellogenic phase of oogenesis, the oocyte accumulate yolk proteins and grow to ten times their original size to 80 to 100 µm in sea urchins. The oocyte, arrested at the prophase of the first meiotic division, is apparent with its large nucleus, the germinal …

Hsp56 protein and mRNA distribution in normal and stressed P. lividus embryos

It was previously demonstrated that Paracentrotus lividus Hsp56 mitochondrial chaperonin is con- stitutively expressed during development, that it increases after heat-shock and cadmium treatment, and that it has a specific territorial distribution, both in normal and heat-shocked embryos, as shown by immunolocalization experiments. In this work, we analyzed by Western blot the territorial distribution of the protein in plutei exposed to heat-shock or sublethal cadmium concentrations, and we found that Hsp56 increases in both ectodermal and en- dodermal cells. Moreover, by “in situ” hybridization, we looked at Hsp56 mRNA during normal development and under stress conditions. We found that th…

SELECTION OF THE BEST OOCYTES FOR INTRACYTOPLASMICSPERM INJECTION (ICSI) USING APOPTOTIC ANALYSIS OF CUMULUS CELLS

Introduction: We studied the apoptosis rate of the cumulus cells of individual cumulus-oocyte complex (COC), to verify a relationship with clinical outcomes, in terms of pregnancy and implantation rates. Usually oocytes are selected using morphological criteria. We tried to verify if cumulus cell apoptotic rate could be used as molecular criteria in selecting oocytes with higher implantation potentiality (1;2). Materials and Methods: The study design consisted in two different trials: in the first, we investigated apoptosis rate in cumulus cells of the three selected oocytes, to be fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); in a second trial, average apoptosis rate of the cumulu…

Cadmium accumulation induces apoptosis in P. Lividus embryos

Erratum to: Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition) (Autophagy, 12, 1, 1-222, 10.1080/15548627.2015.1100356

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