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A change in the elasticity of mouse zona pellucida was quantitatively evaluated during oocyte maturation, fertilization and early embryo development. Young's modulus of zona pellucida of germinal vesicle (GV), metaphase-II (MII), pronuclear (PN), 2cell, 4cell, 8cell, morulae (M) and early blastocyst (EB) stages was measured using a micro tactile sensor (MTS) and a chamber exclusively designed for the measurement. The MTS has very high sensitivity and a deformation of only 5 microm was sufficient to calculate the Young's modulus and the oocyte/embryo maintained its original spherical shape during the measurement. The Young's modulus of GV, MII, PN, 2cell, 4cell, 8cell, M and EB was 22.8+/-10.4 kPa (n=30), 8.26+/-5.22 kPa (n=74), 22.3+/-10.5 kPa (n=66), 13.8+/-3.54 kPa (n=41), 12.6+/-3.34 kPa (n=19), 5.97+/-4.97 kPa (n=6), 1.88+/-1.34 kPa (n=8) and 3.39+/-1.86 kPa (n=4), respectively. Experimental results clearly demonstrated that the mouse zona pellucida hardened following fertilization. Interestingly, once the zona pellucida hardened at the PN stage, it gradually softened as the embryo developed (i.e. it was found that the zona hardening is a transient phenomenon). Furthermore, the zona pellucida of the GV oocyte was as hard as that of the PN embryo and became soft as it matured to the MII stage. In addition, the safety of the MTS measurement for oocytes and embryos was discussed both theoretically and experimentally.

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The scanning haptic microscope produced reliable mechanical measurements in small tissue samples without tissue destruction. Vaginal wall tissues are stiffer in women with pelvic organ prolapse than in controls. This vaginal wall stiffness was associated with lower protein expression of collagen III in the vaginal wall compared to that in asymptomatic controls.