Search Results

You are looking at 1 - 1 of 1 items for

  • Author: Luca Palazzese x
  • Refine by access: Open Access content only x
Clear All Modify Search
Luisa Gioia Department of Bioscience and Technology for Food, Agriculture and Environment, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy

Search for other papers by Luisa Gioia in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Luca Palazzese Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy

Search for other papers by Luca Palazzese in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Marta Czernik Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy

Search for other papers by Marta Czernik in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Domenico Iuso Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy

Search for other papers by Domenico Iuso in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Helena Fulka Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic

Search for other papers by Helena Fulka in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
,
Josef Fulka Jr Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic

Search for other papers by Josef Fulka Jr in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
, and
Pasqualino Loi Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Teramo, Italy

Search for other papers by Pasqualino Loi in
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close

The fertilizing spermatozoa induce a Ca2+ oscillatory pattern, the universal hallmark of oocyte activation, in all sexually reproducing animals. Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) like intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) bypass the physiological pathway; however, while a normal Ca2+ release pattern occurs in some species, particularly humans, artificial activation is compulsory for ICSI-fertilized oocytes to develop in most farm animals. Unlike the normal oscillatory pattern, most artificial activation protocols induce a single Ca2+ spike, undermining proper ICSI-derived embryo development in these species. Curiously, diploid parthenogenetic embryos activated by the same treatments develop normally at high frequencies and implant upon transfer in the uterus. We hypothesized that, at least in ruminant embryos, the oscillatory calcium waves late in the first cell cycle target preferentially the paternal pronucleus and are fundamentally important for paternal nuclear remodeling. We believe that Ca2+ signaling is central to full totipotency deployment of the paternal genome. Research in this area could highlight the asymmetry between the parental genome reprogramming timing/mechanisms in early development and impact ARTs like ICSI and cloning.

Open access