Uhde Karen, van Tol Helena T A, Stout Tom A E, Roelen Bernard A J
Department of Farm Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 104, 3584CM Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 112, 3584CM Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Noncoding RNA. 2017 Mar 11;3(1):12. doi: 10.3390/ncrna3010012.
Cumulus cells play an essential role during oocyte maturation and the acquisition of fertilizability and developmental competence. Micro(mi)RNAs can post-transcriptionally regulate mRNA expression, and we hypothesized that miRNA profiles in cumulus cells could serve as an indicator of oocyte quality. Cumulus cell biopsies from cumulus-oocyte-complexes that either yielded a blastocyst or failed to cleave after exposure to sperm cells were analyzed for miRNA expression. On average, 332 miRNA species with more than 10 reads and 240 miRNA species with more than 50 reads were identified in cumulus cells; this included nine previously undescribed microRNAs. The most highly expressed miRNAs in cumulus cells were miR-21, members of the let-7 family and miR-155. However, no repeatable differences in miRNA expression between the cumulus cells from oocytes that became blastocysts versus those from non-cleaved oocytes were identified. Further examination of individual cumulus cell samples showed a wide variability in miRNA expression level. We therefore conclude that miRNA expression in cumulus cells cannot be used as an oocyte quality marker.
卵丘细胞在卵母细胞成熟以及受精能力和发育潜能的获得过程中发挥着重要作用。微小（mi）RNA可在转录后调控mRNA表达，我们推测卵丘细胞中的miRNA谱可作为卵母细胞质量的指标。对来自卵丘 - 卵母细胞复合体的卵丘细胞活检样本进行分析，这些复合体在接触精子细胞后要么发育成囊胚，要么未能分裂，分析其miRNA表达情况。平均而言，在卵丘细胞中鉴定出332种读数超过10的miRNA种类以及240种读数超过50的miRNA种类；这其中包括9种此前未描述的微小RNA。卵丘细胞中表达量最高的miRNA是miR - 21、let - 7家族成员和miR - 155。然而，在发育成囊胚的卵母细胞的卵丘细胞与未分裂卵母细胞的卵丘细胞之间，未发现miRNA表达存在可重复的差异。对单个卵丘细胞样本的进一步检查显示，miRNA表达水平存在很大差异。因此，我们得出结论，卵丘细胞中的miRNA表达不能用作卵母细胞质量的标志物。
