Open Access

REVIEW

Gene expression of granulosa and cumulus cells: The prospect in predicting the quality and developmental competence of oocytes in vitro maturation

BICHUN ZHAO¹, XUEQING WU^2,*, YITONG YUAN¹, YUANTAO GAO¹, XIAO LI², RUOCHEN DU¹, SUMING XU², RUXIN ZHANG¹, CHUNFANG WANG^1,*

1 Laboratory Animal Center, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030000, China
2 Center of Reproductive Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Shanxi and Women Health Center of Shanxi, Taiyuan, 030000, China

* Address correspondence to: Chunfang Wang, ; Xueqing Wu,

BIOCELL 2020, 44(4), 487-499. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2020.011638

Received 21 May 2020; Accepted 12 August 2020; Issue published 24 December 2020

Abstract

In vitro maturation (IVM), a promising assisted reproductive technology (ART), has been evolving in clinical trials and applications. There is a huge potential demand for IVM in clinical practice because it reduces the stimulation of gonadotropins to patients and provides evidence for the safety of neonatal birth. Unfortunately, the maturation rate of oocytes in vivo is not as high as it is in vivo due to a different microenvironment. Moreover, there are still controversies in predicting the developmental capability of oocytes in IVM. The granulosa cells (GCs) and cumulus cells (CCs), closely surrounding the oocytes, play a critical role in oocytes development, while some studies have shown that they can reflect the quality of oocytes. Many studies have been conducted in terms of oocyte quality in transcriptional level in GCs and CCs of mice, Xenopus africanus, and Homo sapiens, which provides important enlightenment for the successful clinical application of IVM. However, no comprehensive reviews about how gene expression profiles affect oocytes quality have been reported. This review aimed to elucidate the gene expression profiles of GCs and CCs that have effects on the quality and developmental competence of oocytes maturation in vitro. And we also put forward a possible idea for ART in the future, integrating all gene expression profiles of GCs and CCs and predicting the quality of the oocytes.

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