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Detection of the effect of microvibrational stimulation on human discarded immature oocytes by single-cell transcriptome sequencing technology

  • Gamete Biology
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the changes in oocytes at the transcriptome level after applying continuous microvibrational mechanical stimulation to human immature oocytes during in vitro maturation.

Methods

The discarded germinal-vesicle stage (GV) oocytes with no fertilization value after oocytes retrieval in assisted reproduction cycles were collected. Part of them was stimulated with vibration (n = 6) at 10 Hz for 24 h after obtaining informed consent; the other was cultured in static condition (n = 6). Single-cell transcriptome sequencing was used to detect the differences in oocyte transcriptome compared with the static culture group.

Results

The applied 10-Hz continuous microvibrational stimulation altered the expression of 352 genes compared with the static culture. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis suggested that the altered genes were mainly enriched with 31 biological processes. The mechanical stimulation upregulated 155 of these genes and downregulated 197 genes. Among them, the genes related to mechanical signaling, such as protein localization to intercellular adhesion (DSP and DLG-5) and cytoskeleton (DSP, FGD6, DNAJC7, KRT16, KLHL1, HSPB1, MAP2K6), were detected. DLG-5, which was related to protein localization to intercellular adhesion, was selected for immunofluorescence experiments based on the transcriptome sequencing results. The protein expression of DLG-5 in the microvibration-stimulated oocytes was higher than that in the static culture oocytes.

Conclusions

Mechanical stimulation affects the transcriptome during oocyte maturation, causing the express changes in intercellular adhesion and cytoskeleton-related genes. We speculate that the mechanical signal may be transmitted to the cell through DLG-5 protein and cytoskeleton-related protein to regulate cellular activities.

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Data availability

Data is available on request from the authors.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program Grant (National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant Program No. 12072034).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomechanics Lab, Department of Mechanics, School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Qinli Liu

  2. Reproductive Medical Center, Amcare Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Tianjin, China

    Yanxia Sun, Lijun Guan, Xinna Chen & Jian Zhou

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Medical Centre, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

    Ping Liu

  4. Sport Biomechanics Center, Sports Artificial Intelligence Institute, Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing, 100191, China

    Bo Huo

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  1. Qinli Liu
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  2. Yanxia Sun
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Contributions

BH, PL, and LQL conceived and designed the study. LQL, LJG, and YXS performed the experiments and analyzed the data. LQL and BH wrote the manuscript. JZ and XNC assisted in writing the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Qinli Liu or Bo Huo.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Amcare Women’s & Children’s Hospital Ethics Committee for Reproductive Medicine on December 24, 2019, under ethics number AM2020-001-01.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Liu, Q., Sun, Y., Guan, L. et al. Detection of the effect of microvibrational stimulation on human discarded immature oocytes by single-cell transcriptome sequencing technology. J Assist Reprod Genet 40, 1773–1781 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02837-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02837-5

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