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All that glitters is not gold: a stereological study of human donor oocytes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2023

Tânia Santos ,
Ana S. Pires-Luís ,
Ângela Alves ,
Elsa Oliveira ,
Carla Leal ,
Mónica Fernandes ,
Emídio Vale-Fernandes Open the ORCID record for Emídio Vale-Fernandes [Opens in a new window] ,
Márcia Barreiro ,
Ana-Margarida Calado  and
Rosália Sá
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Tânia Santos
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050–313 Porto, Portugal Department of Veterinarian Science, School of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences (ECAV), CECAV – Interdisciplinary Research Center in Animal Health, Associated Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Science (AL4AnimalS), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5000–801 Vila Real, Portugal
Ana S. Pires-Luís
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, Unidade 1, Rua Conceição Fernandes 1079, 4434–502, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal Laboratory of Histology and Embryology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto
Ângela Alves
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050–313 Porto, Portugal UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Elsa Oliveira
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050–313 Porto, Portugal UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Carla Leal
Affiliation:
UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Centro de Procriação Medicamente Assistida (CPMA), Centro Materno-Infantil do Norte (CMIN) Albino Aroso, Centro Hospitalar do Porto (CHUPorto), Largo da Maternidade de Júlio Dinis 45, 4050–651 Porto, Portugal
Mónica Fernandes
Affiliation:
UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Centro de Procriação Medicamente Assistida (CPMA), Centro Materno-Infantil do Norte (CMIN) Albino Aroso, Centro Hospitalar do Porto (CHUPorto), Largo da Maternidade de Júlio Dinis 45, 4050–651 Porto, Portugal
Emídio Vale-Fernandes
Affiliation:
UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Centro de Procriação Medicamente Assistida (CPMA), Centro Materno-Infantil do Norte (CMIN) Albino Aroso, Centro Hospitalar do Porto (CHUPorto), Largo da Maternidade de Júlio Dinis 45, 4050–651 Porto, Portugal
Márcia Barreiro
Affiliation:
UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Centro de Procriação Medicamente Assistida (CPMA), Centro Materno-Infantil do Norte (CMIN) Albino Aroso, Centro Hospitalar do Porto (CHUPorto), Largo da Maternidade de Júlio Dinis 45, 4050–651 Porto, Portugal
Ana-Margarida Calado
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinarian Science, School of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences (ECAV), CECAV – Interdisciplinary Research Center in Animal Health, Associated Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Science (AL4AnimalS), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5000–801 Vila Real, Portugal
Rosália Sá
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050–313 Porto, Portugal UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Mário Sousa*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Cell Biology, Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050–313 Porto, Portugal UMIB-Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine/ITR-Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
*
Author for correspondence: Mário Sousa. Laboratory of Cell Biology (Director), Department of Microscopy, ICBAS-School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050–313 Porto, Portugal. Tel: +91 9974476. E-mail: msousa@icbas.up.pt
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Summary

Here we report a quantitative analysis of human metaphase II (MII) oocytes from a 22-year-old oocyte donor, retrieved after ovarian-controlled hyperstimulation. Five surplus donor oocytes were processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and a stereological analysis was used to quantify the distribution of organelles, using the point-counting technique with an adequate stereological grid. Comparisons between means of the relative volumes (Vv) occupied by organelles in the three oocyte regions, cortex (C), subcortex (SC) and inner cytoplasm (IC), followed the Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction. Life cell imaging and TEM analysis confirmed donor oocyte nuclear maturity. Results showed that the most abundant organelles were smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) elements (26.8%) and mitochondria (5.49%). Significant differences between oocyte regions were found for lysosomes (P = 0.003), cortical vesicles (P = 0.002) and large SER vesicles (P = 0.009). These results were quantitatively compared with previous results using prophase I (GV) and metaphase I (MI) immature oocytes. In donor MII oocytes there was a normal presence of cortical vesicles, SER tubules, SER small, medium and large vesicles, lysosomes and mitochondria. However, donor MII oocytes displayed signs of cytoplasmic immaturity, namely the presence of dictyosomes, present in GV oocytes and rare in MI oocytes, of SER very large vesicles, characteristic of GV oocytes, and the rarity of SER tubular aggregates. Results therefore indicate that the criterion of nuclear maturity used for donor oocyte selection does not always correspond to cytoplasmic maturity, which can partially explain implantation failures with the use of donor oocytes.

Keywords

Human donor oocytesHuman oocytesOocyte organelle distributionStereologyUltrastructure
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , June 2023 , pp. 253 - 265
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© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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