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Notch signaling pathway in cumulus cells reflecting zygote and embryo quality in polycystic ovary syndrome

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

The present study aimed to explore the associations between the expression pattern of molecules in the Notch pathway in the cumulus cells of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients and the quality of zygotes and embryos.

Methods

A total of 200 cumulus complexes surrounding mature oocytes were obtained from 40 patients with and without PCOS undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The expressions of Notch-1, Notch-2, and Notch-3 genes were examined by Reverse Transcription Q-PCR assay. Moreover, immunocytochemistry was performed for the expressions of Jagged-1 and Jagged-2 proteins. The correlations between the Notch receptors and their ligand expressions and the qualities of the zygote and embryo were investigated.

Results

The expression levels of Notch-2, Notch-3, Jagged-1, and Jagged-2 were significantly lower in patients with PCOS than in normal women (p < 0.05), while Notch-1 showed no meaningful difference between the groups. A positive correlation was found between Notch-1 and embryo quality. Furthermore, only Notch-2 and Jagged-2 marginally correlated with zygote quality.

Conclusion

The data of the present study indicated that evaluating the molecules in the Notch pathway in PCOS patients’ cumulus cells provides a novel approach to predict the zygote and embryo quality. However, further studies on a larger population are needed to validate this finding.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Tehran University of Medical Sciences (grant number: 26153) and are grateful to the IVF staff of Arash Hospital.

Funding

This study was supported by the research fund of Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Medicine Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran

    Mojtaba Masoudi

  2. Department of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Para-Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran

    Mojtaba Masoudi

  3. Fatemiyeh Shiraz Institute of Higher Education, Shiraz, Iran

    Mojtaba Masoudi

  4. Department of ART, Embryology Laboratory, Arash Women’s Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Nazila Yamini

  5. Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran

    Fahimeh Salehi

  6. Department of Endocrinology and Female Infertility, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran

    Reza Aflatoonian & Ashraf Moini

  7. Fertility and Infertility Research Center, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran

    Maryam Azizi Kutenaee & Ensieh Salehi

  8. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Sahar Esfandiyari, Ebrahim Asadi & Farid Abolhassani

  9. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, School of Medicine, the IVF Clinic, Mousavi Hospital, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran

    Elham Hosseini

  10. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Mahdiyeh Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Azadeh Hosseini Najarkolaei

  11. Cancer and Immunology Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

    Keywan Mortezaee

  12. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Arash Women’s Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ashraf Moini

  13. Breast Disease Research Center(BDRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ashraf Moini

Authors
  1. Mojtaba Masoudi
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  2. Nazila Yamini
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Contributions

MM: data analysis, Manuscript writing; NY: data collection; FS: primer design; RA: project management; MAK: patient selection; SE: manuscript writing; EH: manuscript editing; EA: data collection; AH: patient selection; KM: data collection; AM: patient selection; FA: project management; ES: data collection, project development, manuscript writing/editing, data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ensieh Salehi.

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Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All the procedures performed in the present study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Ethics Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (26,153) and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.

Informed consent

Signed informed consents were obtained from all the patients prior to the study.

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Masoudi, M., Yamini, N., Salehi, F. et al. Notch signaling pathway in cumulus cells reflecting zygote and embryo quality in polycystic ovary syndrome. Arch Gynecol Obstet 304, 1097–1105 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-021-06039-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-021-06039-1

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