The developmental origins of mammalian oocyte polarity.
Drosophila has been an excellent model system to study the cell and molecular determinants of oocyte axis specification, a problem which is little known in mammalian species. Recent evidence supports the notion that mammalian oocytes utilize axis-orienting properties during the course of oogenesis. Among these, axis specification in relation to the oocyte cortex, germinal vesicle (GV) position, anchoring of GV and spindle, and patterning of follicle cell/oocyte attachments are proposed as conserved features of oogenesis in mammals that may be important to the survival and development of the preimplantation embryo.
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Tufts Unviersity School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02111, USA. david.albertini@tufts.edu
David F
DF
Albertini
Susan L
SL
Barrett
D000818:Animals; D016764:Cell Polarity / Q000502:physiology*; D018385:Centrosome / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D009866:Oogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D010053:Ovary / Q000502:physiology