Figure 4.

Superovulation rescues the failure in corpora lutea formation in miR-29a/b₁ KO mice. (A) Serum LH (left) and progesterone (right) levels were significantly reduced in miR-29a/b₁ KO compared to wild-type mice (LH: wild-type: 6.927 ± 0.4062 mIU/ml, miR-29a/b₁ KO: 3.607 ± 0.5175 mIU/ml, p=0.0003, n=7; progesterone: wild-type: 8.166 ± 2.072 nmol/L, n=7, miR-29a/b₁ KO: 1.062 ± 0.1181 nmol/L, n=6, p=0.0092). (B) Numbers of oocytes and 2-cell embryos obtained in response to superovulation in miR-29a/b₁ KO and wild-type mice (Oocytes: wild-type: 13.83 ± 1.493, miR-29a/b₁ KO: 10.17 ± 1.558, p=0.1201; 2-cell embryos: wild-type: 8.667 ± 1.256, miR-29a/b₁ KO: 5.333 ± 1.022, p=0.0666, n=6). (C) Corpora lutea formation in ovaries of miR-29a/b₁ KO females after superovulation (wild-type: 19.56 ± 1.634, miR-29a/b₁ KO: 15.67 ± 1.302, p=0.0811, n=9). (D) GnRH challenge in miR-29a/b₁ KO and wild-type mice (wild-type: 3.19 ± 0.48 mIU/ml, miR-29a/b₁ KO: 2.255 ± 0.1287 mIU/ml, p=0.0376, n=5; GnRH: wild-type: 4.857 ± 0.2346 mIU/ml, p=0.0138, n=6, miR-29a/b₁ KO: 3.484 ± 0.3357 mIU/ml, p=0.0145, n=7). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ****p < 0.0001.