Movie shows fertilization events in the mouse oocyte. In vitro fertilization experiments using mouse oocytes and sperm to identify role of positional information with sperm entry and oocyte polarity. (More? Large movie version | Original movie 4.2 Mb | Week 1 Notes)
White arrowhead - sperm
White exclamation mark - time of fertilization (short cytoplasmic contraction)
Black asterisk - site of second polar body formation
White asterisk - site of fertilization cone formation
Time given in hh:mm:ss represents real time. Video consists of 1,392 frames; 20 msec (frames 1–744), 80 msec (frames 745–1,196), or 100 msec per frame (frames 1,197–1,392), with constant relative speed.
"Before fertilization, the fully differentiated oocyte has been characterized as “polarized,” and we indeed observed that the sperm preferentially enters the polar body half. Here we show that preferential sperm entry is not due to an intrinsic polarity of the oocyte, since fertilization takes place uniformly when the zona pellucida is removed."
Original Quicktime: pbio.0040135.sv002.mov (4.2 Mb) in new window.
Motosugi N, Dietrich JE, Polanski Z, Solter D, Hiiragi T. Space asymmetry directs preferential sperm entry in the absence of polarity in the mouse oocyte. PLoS Biol. 2006 May;4(5):e135. PLoS Biology Link
"Based on these experiments, we propose a model in which the space asymmetry exerted by the first polar body and the zona pellucida directs sperm entry preferentially to the polar body half, with no need for oocyte polarity."
Material from the Public Library of Science (PLoS) journals is reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CCAL), authors retain ownership of the copyright for their article, but authors allow anyone to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and/or copy articles in PLoS journals, so long as the original authors and source are credited. This broad license was developed to facilitate open access to, and free use of, original works of all types. Open Access License
The movie below is an enlarged version of the fertilization of mouse oocyte above (note the file is also larger, 7.1 Mb). The movie is from an in vitro fertilization experiment using mouse oocytes and sperm to identify role of positional information with sperm entry and oocyte polarity.
White arrowhead - sperm
White exclamation mark - time of fertilization (short cytoplasmic contraction)
Black asterisk - site of second polar body formation
White asterisk - site of fertilization cone formation
Time given in hh:mm:ss represents real time. Video consists of 1,392 frames; 20 msec (frames 1–744), 80 msec (frames 745–1,196), or 100 msec per frame (frames 1,197–1,392), with constant relative speed.
"Before fertilization, the fully differentiated oocyte has been characterized as “polarized,” and we indeed observed that the sperm preferentially enters the polar body half. Here we show that preferential sperm entry is not due to an intrinsic polarity of the oocyte, since fertilization takes place uniformly when the zona pellucida is removed."
Reference: Motosugi N, Dietrich JE, Polanski Z, Solter D, Hiiragi T. Space asymmetry directs preferential sperm entry in the absence of polarity in the mouse oocyte. PLoS Biol. 2006 May;4(5):e135. PLoS Biology Link
Original Quicktime: pbio.0040135.sv002.mov (4.2 Mb) in new window.
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This current page shows a movie from a recent PLoS research paper investigating the role that the site of fertilization has on establishing polarity in the mouse oocyte.
UNSW Embryology has many movies that show dynamic changes that occur during embryonic development. These have been grouped together on separate pages (listed in righthand menu) that can be also be opened from a pull down menu on each page.
Internet users note that some of these movies are large and will take some time to download depending on your connection speed.There also an about movies page which has technical details and terms listed. Both Mac and PC computers require the Quicktime plug-in to be present in your browser or on your computer. DVD users can find Quicktime on the DVD or the latest version can be downloaded from here Quicktime.
Please email Dr Mark Hill if you wish to make a comment about this current project.