China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2021, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (4): 1343-1350.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2021.04.021

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Roles of Calcium Oscillations in the Fertilization and Activation of Oocytes

ZHU Tianqi, LI Jia, LIU Guoshi, ZHANG Lu   

  1. College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
  • Received:2020-08-20 Online:2021-04-20 Published:2021-04-16

Abstract: Mammal sperm and oocytes are produced by meiosis,leading to haploid genomes.The gametes are highly specialized.After the sperm-oocytes fusion,the number of chromosomes are restored,and the developmental totipotency is re-obtained.Following that the mitosis is restarted and individual starts to grow.During fertilization,sperm causes the calcium ions (Ca2+) rising at a certain frequency,which is called Ca2+ oscillation.The Ca2+ oscillation drives the activity of downstream proteins to complete the activation of the oocytes.This article mainly discussed the mechanism of initiation,maintenance and function of Ca2+ oscillation during fertilization.The duration,amplitude,and frequency of Ca2+ oscillation affect the secretion of cortical granules,the resumption of MⅡ arrest,and the recruitment of maternal mRNA.This article also reviewed how Ca2+ oscillations activate maternal mRNA transcription and restart mitosis of zygote.Recent years,great progress has been achieved in discovering signaling pathways that drive oocytes activation events,but the molecular mechanisms involved in each individual event have not yet been fully determined.This review discussed the deficiencies and future directions of related reasarch.In the future,the elucidation of the role of Ca2+ oscillation will definitely benefit reproductive techniques for human and the livestock industry.

Key words: oocyte; fertilization; calcium oscillations; oocytes activation

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