Comparative Analysis of Number and Competence in Meiotic Maturation of Preovulatory Oocytes of C57Bl/6J Mice and Their F1 Hybrids after Stimulation with Gonadotropin

Abstract

The study examined maturation of preovulatory germinal vesicles oocytes (GV oocytes) induced by gonadotropic hormone PMSG in the inbred C57Bl/6J mice (viewed as a gold standard for diverse biomedical studies) as well as in the first generation hybrid C57Bl/6J×СВА/lac and СВА/lac×C57Bl/6J mice at various ages. The most effective donors of GV oocytes were СВА/lac×C57Bl/6J mice (F1 hybrids) yielding 25±2 oocyte/mouse. In contrast, a significantly smaller number of GV oocytes can be isolated from the ovaries of female C57Bl/6J or C57Bl/6J×СВА/lac mice under the same conditions. At this, the greatest number of GV oocytes (42±4) can be retrieved from the ovaries of immature hybrid СВА/lac×C57Bl/6J mice aged 4 weeks. These mice demonstrated the largest share of GV oocytes, which attained MII stage during in vitro culturing. The data conclude that F1 hybrid СВА/lac×C57Bl/6J mice can be viewed as a handy experimental source yielding a large number of GV oocytes capable of meiotic maturation in a culture.