Inducció de la maduració oocitària per transferència interespecífica del factor MPF

The aim of this project is to develop a procedure to induce ovocyte maturation "in vitro" by interspecific transfer of MPF (Maturation Promoting Factor) from mouse ovocytes into immature ovocytes from economically interesting animals. Although ovocyte maturation has already been studied using different approaches (e.g. intra- and interspecific ovocyte fusion and "in vitro" culture), to our knowledge, the induction of ovocyte maturation by transfer of MPF in mammals has never been assayed. Our experimental design proposes transfering the MPF obtained from mouse mature ovocytes to immature ovocytes from goats or other domestic mammals, either by micronjection of citoplasmatic portions or by ovocyte fusion. The control of the maturation process will be performed by citogenetic analysis of the ovocytes, by "in vitro" fertilization and cytogenetic analysis of the zygotes, and by embryo transf