Transcriptomics in human cumulus cells during oocyte in vitro maturation

Advancing human oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) requires understanding
the mechanisms that govern this process. The cumulus cells (CCs) that
surround the oocyte play a crucial role. Our study focused on identifying
specific genes in human CCs contributing to oocyte maturation in vitro. We
used microarrays to detail the global transcriptome underlying oocyte
maturation in cumulus cells and identified distinct up-and-down-regulated
genes and signaling pathways during this process. Cumulus cells were
removed from immatures (germinal vesicle - GV) cumulus-oocyte complexes
(COCs) before IVM (Fresh GV, n = 5) and immature (GV) and mature (MII)
COCs after IVM (GV-IVM, n=8; and MII-IVM, n=12). All the samples were
collected ex vivo from 8 women who underwent unilateral ovariectomy and
ovarian tissue cryopreservation for fertility preservation. Women did not
receive prior ovarian stimulation