A Comparative View on the Oviductal Environment during the Periconception Period

Abstract

The oviduct plays important roles in reproductive events: sperm reservoir formation, final gamete maturation, fertilization and early embryo development. It is well known that the oviductal environment affects gametes and embryos and, ultimately, the health of offspring, so that in vivo embryos are better in terms of morphology, cryotolerance, pregnancy rates or epigenetic profile than those obtained in vitro. The deciphering of embryo–maternal interaction in the oviduct may provide a better understanding of the embryo needs during the periconception period to improve reproductive efficiency. Here, we perform a comparative analysis among species of oviductal gene expression related to embryonic development during its journey through the oviduct, as described to date. Cross-talk communication between the oviduct environment and embryo will be studied by analyses of the secreted or exosomal proteins of the oviduct and the presence of receptors in the membrane of the embryo blastomeres. Finally, we review the data that are available to date on the expression and characterization of the most abundant protein in the oviduct, oviductin (OVGP1), highlighting its fundamental role in fertilization and embryonic development.

Modification of Morphology and Glycan Pattern of the Oviductal Epithelium of Baboon Papio hamadryas during the Menstrual Cycle

“…In porcine, the addition of oviductal EVs to the IVF medium regulates polyspermy [ 68 ], while oviductal EVs isolated from oviductal fluid improve bovine embryo quality during in vitro culture, in terms of blastocyst rates, cell number, hatching rates, embryo cryosurvival and gene expression [ 69 ]. It has been demonstrated that the molecular composition of oviductal EVs is regulated by steroid hormones [ 70 ] and that the OVGP1-protein is contained in the oviductal EVs (see [ 71 ] for references).…”

Oviduct epithelial cells‐derived extracellular vesicles improve preimplantation developmental competence of in vitro produced porcine parthenogenetic and cloned embryos

“…In the oviduct, a large number of secretory epithelial cells provide essential environmental and nutritional support for early embryonic development (Li & Winuthayanon, 2017). Oviduct epithelial cells (OESs) secrete oviductal fluid (OF) and play important roles in reproductive events, participating in final gamete maturation, fertilization, and early embryonic development (González‐Brusi et al, 2020; Tukur et al, 2020). Moreover, the OF mediates an early embryo‐maternal dialog through cell‐to‐cell contacts, secreted molecules, and extracellular vesicles (EVs) (Lee et al, 2021; Saint‐Dizier, Schoen, Chen, Banliat, & Mermillod, 2019).…”

OVGP1 is an oviductal fluid factor essential particularly for early embryonic development in golden hamsters

“…Among oviductal factors identified in the oviductal fluid, OVGP1 has been well characterized and suggested to play important roles in the process of several mammalian species, including humans [for review, see Araki & Yoshida-Komiya, 1998; Buhi 2002; Avilés et al, 2010; González-Brusi et al, 2020; Zhao et al, 2022]. Using the golden hamster as a model, which has provided a wealth of knowledge concerning the mammalian reproductive process [Hirose & Ogura, 2019], Ovgp1 -knockout (KO) animals were generated using gene editing technology (Suppl.…”