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Is the plasma membrane of the human oocyte reorganised following fertilisation and early cleavage?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

B. Dale ,
E. Tosti  and
M. Iaccarino
B. Dale*
Affiliation:
Stazione Zoologica and IVF ITALY srl, Naples, Italy.
E. Tosti
Affiliation:
Stazione Zoologica and IVF ITALY srl, Naples, Italy.
M. Iaccarino
Affiliation:
Stazione Zoologica and IVF ITALY srl, Naples, Italy.
*
Brian Dale, Stazione Zoologica, Villa Communale, I-80121, Naples, Italy. Telephone and Fax: + + 39 81 5833233.
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Summary

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the plasma membrance of the human oocyte is reorganised following fertlisation and during early cleavage. In order to characterise and localise the major sugar moieties on surface glycoporteins, oocytes and embroys were labelled with a range of flourescent lectins. Regional organisation of plasma membrane microvilli in oocytes and embryos was also studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The plasma membrance of human oocytes, zygotes and early blastomeres stained strongly and homogeneously with concanavalin A and Triticum vulgaris lectin (WGA), indicationg the presence of plasma membrance glycoconjugates with α-D-mannosyl residues, sialic acid and β-NAc-glucosaminyl groups. We did not observe regional domains in oocytes and zygotes, suggesting that the plasma membrane is not topographically reorganised following fertilisation. SEM shows the surface of the human zygote to be organised into short microvilli 0.2–3.0 μm in length and at a density of 5–20/μm2. In early cleavage stages the microvilli are shorter and less frequent (0.2–1.0 μm; 1–5/μm2); however, there is no evidence of polarisation at this level of organisation, at either stage of development. The surface of cell fragments, common in the human embryo in vitro, differs in having few microvilli and numerous cytoplasmic blebs. In conclusion, there are no obvious morphological signs of regionalisation in the plasma membrane of the human embryo before the 8-cell stage.

Keywords

Human oocytes and embryosLectin bindingPolaritySurface glycoproteins
Type
Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , February 1995 , pp. 31 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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Footnotes

1Stazione Zoologica, Villa Comunale, I-80121, Naples, Italy.
2IVF ITALY srl, Viale Gramsci 10, Naples, Italy.

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