DR. ALBERTINI’S PHOTO GALLERY
David F. Albertini, PhD, is Professor and Chair of Developmental Biology at the Bedford Research Foundation in Massachusetts and a Visiting Senior Scientist at The Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) in NYC. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal for Assisted Reproduction and Genetics (JARG).
As our senses get bombarded by the multimedia frenzy of the 21st century, getting information in a timely and accurate fashion seems to be consistently important. This is also the case when it comes to processing information for the eggs in a women’s ovary. As we here demonstrated last month, eggs spend the time within the confines of the ovarian follicle where they are nurtured for many years before being called upon at the time of ovulation in a process called recruitment. How is information conveyed from a woman’s body to the eggs in her ovaries? The mainstay of these communication pathways are delicate structures known as “transzonal projections” or TZPs. Dr Albertini and others have spent decades studying these specialized structures in hopes of understanding what drives the development and maturation of eggs in many mammalian species. Here are a few examples of how complex the landscape is at the interface of follicles and oocytes.
IMAGE I -
depicts an immature egg cell, within the cumulus complex showing striations or stripes emanating from the egg, all of which constitute the elaborate communication network of TZPs.
IMAGE II -
is similar but in this case some cumulus cells have been dislodged from the zona pellucida revealing both the TZPs (yellow stripes) and the egg periphery labeled to demonstrate the presence of contractile proteins to stabilize the egg cell membrane. Note the germinal vesicle (GV) at 3 o’clock.
IMAGES III & IV - demonstrate an immature human egg with cumulus cells on the outside anchored to the zona pellucida. At an even higher magnification in the 4th image, one can see small particles, known as exosomes and likely transmitting information from cumulus cells to the egg for further processing.