Organization and Function of the Cytoskeleton during Mammalian Oocyte Maturation and Fertilization

Abstract: Oocyte maturation and fertilization are the core processes of animal reproduction. Cytoskeleton is a complex network of protein filaments that extents throughout the oocyte cytoplasm. Accumulating evidence showed that extensive organizations of the cytoskeletal elements occur during oocyte maturation and fertilization. The cell cycle progression depends greatly on the regulation of the cytoskeleton. Recent studies show that the distribution of cytoskeleton in mammalian oocyte and embryo are very unique and have peculiar function， which enable the oocyte and embryo to undergo very remarkable changes found at developmental transitions. Further， organization of both microtubules and the microfilaments are involved in the organizations of genetic materials during oocyte maturation and fertilization. Recent years， there is a great progress in the studies of the cytoskeletal elements of oocyte and embryo in different mammalian species. This review mainly focuses on the organization， distribution and function of the cytoskeleton according to these researches. The regulation of many signal transduction mechanisms on cytoskeletal system during oocyte maturation and fertilization is also discussed.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2005.01.0005