Microtubule organization during human parthenogenesis.
In human fertilization, the sperm centrosome plays a crucial role as a microtubule organizing center (MTOC). We studied microtubule organization during human parthenogenesis, which occurs when a human egg undergoes cleavage without a sperm centrosome. Multiple cytoplasmic asters were organized in the human oocyte after parthenogenetic activation, indicating that multiple MTOC are present in the human oocyte cytoplasm and function like a human sperm centrosome during parthenogenesis.
Terada
Yukihiro
Y
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan. terada@mail.tains.tohoku.ac.jp
Hasegawa
Hisataka
H
Ugajin
Tomohisa
T
Murakami
Takashi
T
Yaegashi
Nobuo
N
Okamura
Kunihiro
K
D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D022101:Microtubule-Organizing Center / Q000502:physiology*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010312:Parthenogenesis / Q000502:physiology*