title: Monitoring Calcium Oscillations in Fertilized Mouse Eggs.
abstract: In mammalian species, including human, fertilization is characterized by the triggering of long-lasting calcium (Ca(2+)) oscillations in the egg cytoplasm. The monitoring of these Ca(2+) oscillations is a valuable technique to demonstrate that fertilization has occurred, to study egg activation events elicited downstream of the Ca(2+) signal, as well as to evaluate sperm quality. This chapter describes our protocol to monitor sperm-induced Ca(2+) oscillations in mouse eggs, using fluorescence microscopy techniques and the Fura-2-AM ratiometric Ca(2+) indicator.
authors.affiliation: CNRS UMR6290, Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes, Université Rennes 1, 2 Avenue du Professeur LéonBernard, Rennes Cedex, 35043, France. guillaume.halet@univ-rennes1.fr.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Halet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D020013:Calcium Signaling; D005306:Fertilization; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism; D015053:Zygote / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: Ca2+; Calcium; Egg; Fertilization; Fluorescence; Imaging; Oocyte; Sperm