Abstract
BackgroundPolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder in women. The developmental competence of oocytes and embryos in PCOS patients is reduced to a certain extent (comparing to non-PCOS patients, the high quality embryo rate was decreased by 16% from the data of our centre) during the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process. Cross-talk between the oocyte and cumulus cells is critical for oocyte maturation and embryo competence. In this study, we have evaluated the transcription of specific genes in cumulus cells harvested from pre-ovulatory follicles of PCOS patients before IVF, according to individual oocyte nuclear maturity and developmental competence. Seven genes (RUNX2, PSAT1, ADAMTS9, CXCL1, CXCL2, CXCL3, and ITGB5) were targeted from our previous cDNA microarray data which isolated genes related to oocyte nuclear maturation in PCOS patients. Two additional genes which had been found to be associated with oocyte maturation or embryo quality in non-PCOS patients (GPX3 and PTX3) were also studied.MethodsThe mRNA expression levels of cumulus cells were detected by qRT- PCR.ResultsConsistent with our previous cDNA microarray data, with the exception of GPX3 and PTX3, the selected 7 genes were related to oocyte nuclear maturation in PCOS patients. Noticeably, the expression level of RUNX2 was lower in cumulus cells derived from oocytes that could develop into blastocysts than the level of expression from oocytes that could not. The PTX3 expression level was significantly lower in cumulus cells from oocytes with two normal pronuclei than that from oocytes that formed >2 pronuclei (MPN) after fertilization. GPX3 mRNA levels were decreased in cumulus cells isolated from oocytes that developed into blastocysts with high potential development competence.ConclusionsSeveral cumulus cell genes were associated with oocyte maturation, fertilization and embryo quality in PCOS patients. RUNX2 and GPX3 are candidate genetic markers in the monitoring of embryo quality for PCOS patients, whereas PTX3 mainly played a role in fertilization process. Together with morphological evaluation, cumulus cells genes may serve as biomarkers of oocyte and embryo selection during the IVF process for PCOS patients and may advance our understanding of PCOS.
Highlights
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder in women
During in vitro fertilization (IVF), sufficient oocytes are usually retrieved from PCOS patients who are under controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), highquality mature oocytes are limited in number [4,5,6,7]
Transcripts levels of the target genes according to the fertilization process in PCOS patients To evaluate whether target genes were involved in the fertilization process, the transcript levels of the target genes were detected in CC2PN (n = 130) and CCMPN (n = 36) groups (Figure 3)
Summary
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder in women. Cross-talk between the oocyte and cumulus cells is critical for oocyte maturation and embryo competence. We have evaluated the transcription of specific genes in cumulus cells harvested from pre-ovulatory follicles of PCOS patients before IVF, according to individual oocyte nuclear maturity and developmental competence. The paucity of high-quality mature oocytes may result from endocrine and intra-ovarian paracrine interactions in PCOS patients which could change the microenvironment for oocyte development during the folliculogenesis and reduce the developmental competence of oocytes [8,9]. Cross-talk between cumulus cells (CCs) and oocytes in the follicle is understood to be a pivotal process in oocyte maturation and metabolism [13,14]. Previous researchers have reported that gene expressions of CCs could be used as a tool to predict oocyte competence or embryo development [14,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24]
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