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. 2024 Dec 24;7:1692. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07305-z

Fig. 2. Aging led to a depletion of cumulus cell gap junctions and the loss of intercommunication between cumulus cells and oocytes.

Fig. 2

a Representative TEM pictures of the antral follicles. The regions surrounded by dotted lines are enlarged at the bottom. Scale bar = 20 µm (upper), 10 µm (bottom). b Cell-to-cell distance between cumulus cells in the antral follicles. Four different positions are used for analysis, including the regions surrounded by red lines and black dotted lines in Fig. 2a. ***p < 0.001, Tukey-Kramer test. c, d Gene expression of gap junction genes including Gja1 (Connexin 43), Gjc1 (Connexin 45), Gja4 (Connexin 37), cumulus cell maker Cyp19a1, germ cell marker Ddx4, and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor Fshr in cumulus cells. Cumulus cells were collected from antral follicles 48 h after PMSG injection. ***p < 0.001; ns, not significant (p > 0.05), unpaired Student’s t-test. e TEM pictures of the COCs in the antral follicle, including cumulus cells, the zona pellucida (ZP), transzonal projection (TZP), and oocyte. Scale bar = 5 µm. Arrowheads indicate TZPs. f The number of TZPs. ***p < 0.001; Tukey-Kramer test. g Amount of glutathione (GSH) in an oocyte; n indicates the number of female mice examined. *p < 0.05; Tukey-Kramer test. h Schematic diagram of lucifer yellow injection into the GV oocytes with cumulus cells. Images were taken at 0 and 30 min after injection. i Pictures of the COCs at 0 and 30 min after injection. Scale bars = 100 µm. j The ratio of fluorescence intensity of cumulus cells before/after incubation; n indicates the number of COCs tested. *p < 0.05; Tukey-Kramer test. Data are mean ± SEM.