EMBRYO Flashcards
What stage of development is the oocyte arrested at?
Second stage of meiosis
What are the three mechanisms by which the oviduct guides the sperm to the oocyte
- Chemotaxis
- Thermotaxis
- Rheotaxis
How is the sperm guided by chemotaxis
cumulus cells of oocyte release progesterone 4 which acts as a chemoattractant
How is the sperm guided by rheotaxis
The sperm face towards the oncoming current of the oviductal fluid - rotation of the flagella upon CatSper activation
How is the sperm guided by thermotaxis
The sperm move towards the warmer 39 degree ampulla (sensors for this are TRPM8 and GPCR opsins)
How does the oviduct act as a reservoir to sperm
When sperm reaches the isthmus they temporarily bind to epithelial cells here and linger until ovulation occurs - where they are released and swim to the oocyte
- apical microvilli have a gamete specific response involving signal transduction, calcium decreases and PH increases to prevent capacitation, decreased motility
How are oocytes transported in the oviduct
- ovulated oocyte picked up by fimbrae
- passes to ampulla
- propulsive contractions and oviductal cilia beat to move it forward
Pacemaker activity in which cells regulates oviduct motility
cells of Cajal
What are the two stages of sperm maturation in the female tract
- capacitation
2. acrosome reaction
What happens to the sperm during capacitation
- stripping of glycoprotein coat and seminal plasma proteins
- hyperactivity of sperm initiated
How does the uterus aid in capacitation
- secreted proteolytic enzymes
- has cholesterol binding sinks
Which receptors does sperm bind to on the zona pellucida
- ZP2/3/4
describe the acrosome reaction
- sperm binds to zona pellicuda - ZP3/ZP4
- galactose from ZP3 reacts with galactosyltransferase, a cell membrane protein in the anterior end of the sperm head
- increased calcium
- preacrosin binds to ZP2
- induces release of enzymes trypsin and across
- Acrosin digests zona pellucida
How is polyspermy prevented after fertilisation
- increase of intracellular calcium in egg caused by
sperm binding to egg causes cortical reaction whereby cortical granules are released from the egg which cross-links the zona pellucida proteins - enzymes released from granules - ovastacin cleaves ZP2 - ZP2f which stops preacrosin binding and production of acrosin
- Beta-hexosaminidase B digests oligosaccharide receptor on ZP3
- egg sheds JUNO receptors for sperm membrane (IZUMO 1)
What is the metabolism mechanism of the oocyte in the early stages?
oxidative metabolism - pyruvate and lactate used to provide energy and as a substrate for the krebs cycle - provided by the oviduct and cumulus cells
What is the metabolism mechanism of the oocyte in the late stages?
glycolytic metabolism - oviduct provides the glycogen used as an energy source - Amylase then converts this glycogen to glucose (glycogenolysis)
List the roles of the oviduct in embryo development
- protection against stress and immune responses
- provides energy for metabolism - glucose and pyruvate
- secretes embryotrophic factors
- mitochondrial maturation
- embryo transport
- transport of sperm - via rheotaxis, chemotaxis, thermotaxis
Which embryotrophic factors does this oviduct provide
- IGF
- FGF
- TGF
- EGF
How does the oviduct protect the embryo against stress
- oviductal antioxidants reduce oxidative stress in oocytes and embryos
- epithelial cells produce heat shock protein family (HSP25 and 70) to handle heat stress
- Oviductal fluid contains catalase, superoxide dismutases (SOD1/2) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX4) to reduce stress from ROS
- protects embryo agains their own immune system by inhibiting production of antimicrobial peptides and excess protease activity (e2/esr1 signalling)
what is the role of the oviduct in embryo transport
- tubal muscle contraction
2. motility of ciliated epithelial cells - increased fluid secretion and flow, ciliary beat frequency
what is the affect of IGF-1 on the ovary
Follicle
- synergise with FSH and LH
- stimulate oestrodial promoting follicle and oocyte growth
Corpus Luteum
- synergise with LH
- stimulate progesterone
- promotes embryo growth and development
Put the following stages of preimplantation development in order: Blastulation Syngamy Fertilisation Expansion Hatching Compaction Cleavage Mitotic divison
- Fertilisation
- Syngamy
- Mitotic Division
- Cleavage
- Compaction
- Blastulation
- Expansion
- Hatching
what is syngamy
- cytoplasmic contents of -the sperm cell membrane pass into oocyte cytoplasm - COMPLETING FUSION
- haploid chromosomes from egg and sperm become surrounded by membranes - forming pronuclei
- both sets of chromosomes synthesise DNA in preparation for the first mitotic division
- membranes then break down and mitotic metaphase spindle forms
what is cleavage
ooplasm divides into two equal halves and successive cleaves increase cell number - one cell zygote becomes two cell conceptus