Parameters influencing ovum pickup by oviductal fimbria in the golden hamster

Abstract

AbstractThe process whereby hamster oviductal fimbria transport ova to the ampulla was investigated in vitro and in vivo with the intent of determining whether cumulus‐free ova were transported and resolving some of the parameters involved in cumulus‐isolated from ovaries could not be picked up until 16–17 h before it would be ovulated. This was apparently related to the time at which the cumulus matrix begins to expand. The fimbria were not species‐specific, as they readily picked up rat, mouse, and rabbit ovulated cumul, but they were partially tissue‐specific as they would only pick up tissues such as the vitreous humor and loose connective tissue, which contain considerable extracellular glycosaminoglycan. Interaction of cumulus and fimbria could be prevented b treating either structure with polycatinic macromolecules such as poly‐l‐lysine, cationic ferritin, and protamine. Treatment of fimbria with proteolytic enzymes or hyaluronidase did not prevent pickup, but neuraminidase did. The only “artificial cumulus” the fimbria would pick up was chicken egg‐white. Cumulus‐free ova were not picked up in vitro, but part of them placed into the ovarian bursa were transported to the ampulla in vivo. Coating the ova with chicken egg‐white allowed their pickup in vitro, but had little effect on the success of transport of ova transplanted into the ovarian bursa in vivo. The transport of ova from the ovarian bursa to the oviductal ampulla is apparently a rather complex process involving interaction of some component of the cilia surfaces with the cumulus as well as other factors not necessarily related to this interaction.