In mammals, most immature oocytes remain dormant in the primordial follicles in order to ensure the longevity of female reproductive life.A precise understanding of mechanisms underlying the dormancy is important for reproductive biology and medicine. In this study, by comparing mouse oogenesis in vivo and in vitro, the latter of which bypasses the primordial follicle stage, we defined the geneexpression profile representing the dormant state of oocytes. Overexpression of constitutively active FOXO3 partially reproduced the dormant state in vitro. Based on further gene expression analysis, we found that a hypoxic condition efficiently induced the dormant state in vitro. The effect of hypoxia wasseverely diminished by disruption of the Foxo3 gene and inhibition of hypoxia-inducible factors. Our findings provide insights into the importance of environmental conditions and their effectors for establishing the dormant state. SOURCE: So Shimamoto (s_shima@hgs.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp) -  Kyushu-university

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE128305: Hypoxia induces the dormant state in oocytes through expression of Foxo3