Figure 5.

Effects of heat shock during in vitro growth (IVG) culture on the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in oocytes. (a) Representative fluorescent photomicrographs of IVG oocytes detected with 2ʹ,7ʹ-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCHFDA). The intracellular ROS levels in oocytes were evaluated every 4 days during IVG culture (days 4, 8, and 12) in the control group (upper panels) and the heat shock group (lower panels). Scale bar = 50 µm. (b) The relative fluorescent intensity for ROS levels from the control and heat shock groups every 4 days during IVG culture (days 4, 8, and 12). The fluorescent intensity of ROS was measured using a total of 141 oocytes (three replicates each). Numbers in the bar graph indicate the number of oocytes, while the number of replicates is shown in parentheses. Fluorescence intensity of the heat shock group was normalized to that of the control group on the same culture day. Error bars indicate SEM.