Leese Henry J, Brison Daniel R, Sturmey Roger G
Centre for Atherothrombosis and Metabolic Disease, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom.
Department of Reproductive Medicine, Old St. Mary's Hospital, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Front Physiol. 2022 May 11;13:899485. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.899485. eCollection 2022.
This article revisits the hypothesis, proposed in 2002, that the successful development of oocytes and preimplantation mammalian embryos is associated with a metabolism which is "quiet" rather than "active", within limits which had yet to be defined. A distinction was drawn between Functional Quietness, Loss of quietness in response to stress and Inter-individual differences in embryo metabolism and here we document applications of the hypothesis to other areas of reproductive biology. In order to encompass the requirement for "limits" and replace the simple distinction between "quiet" and "active", evidence is presented which led to a re-working of the hypothesis by proposing the existence of an optimal range of metabolic activity, termed a "Goldilocks zone", within which oocytes and embryos with maximum developmental potential will be located. General and specific mechanisms which may underlie the Goldilocks phenomenon are proposed and the added value that may be derived by expressing data on individual embryos as distributions rather than mean values is emphasised especially in the context of the response of early embryos to stress and to the concept of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. The article concludes with a cautionary note that being "quietly efficient" may not always ensure optimal embryo survival.
本文重新审视了2002年提出的假说，即卵母细胞和植入前哺乳动物胚胎的成功发育与一种“安静”而非“活跃”的代谢有关，其代谢限度尚未明确。文中区分了功能安静、应激时安静状态的丧失以及胚胎代谢的个体差异，并且我们记录了该假说在生殖生物学其他领域的应用。为了涵盖对“限度”的要求并取代“安静”与“活跃”之间的简单区分，文中给出了相关证据，这些证据促使对该假说进行重新梳理，提出存在一个代谢活动的最佳范围，称为“金发姑娘区”，具有最大发育潜力的卵母细胞和胚胎将处于这个范围内。文中提出了可能构成金发姑娘现象基础的一般和具体机制，并强调了将单个胚胎的数据以分布而非平均值的形式表示所可能带来的附加价值，特别是在早期胚胎对应激的反应以及健康与疾病的发育起源概念的背景下。文章最后提出警示，即“安静高效”未必总能确保胚胎的最佳存活。
