title: Maternal age-related differential global expression profiles observed in human oocytes.
abstract: The age-related decline in female fertility has been attributed to a variety of causes including progressive oocyte depletion, meiotic irregularities and mitochondrial dysfunction. However, additional factors could potentially be involved. To explore this possibility, comprehensive analysis of gene expression in human oocytes, discarded following IVF procedures and segregated by age, was undertaken using microarray methods. These findings indicate that the expression of oocyte genes, in a variety of major functional categories including cell cycle regulation, cytoskeletal structure, energy pathways, transcription control, and stress responses, are influenced by maternal age. These results are corroborated by a complementary extensive study using mouse oocytes.
authors.affiliation: ART Institute of New York and New Jersey, Livingston, New Jersey 07039, USA. nury.steuerwald@embryos.net
authors.forename: Nury M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Steuerwald
authors.forename: Mercedes G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bermúdez
authors.forename: Dagan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Munné
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D015854:Up-Regulation