Personne : Fournier, Éric
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Fournier
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Éric
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Centre de recherche en biologie de la reproduction, Faculté des sciences de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation, Université Laval
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Publication Restreint The gametic synapse : RNA transfer to the bovine oocyte(Oxford University Press, 2014-10-01) Gilbert, Isabelle; Caballero, Julieta; Tossou, Prudencio; Khandjian, Edward William; Macaulay, Angus; Richard, François J.; Barreto, Rodrigo; Clarke, Hugh James; Robert, Claude; Fournier, Éric; Sirard, Marc-André; Hyttel, P.Even after several decades of quiescent storage in the ovary, the female germ cell is capable of reinitiating transcription to build the reserves that are essential to support early embryonic development. In the current model of mammalian oogenesis, there exists bilateral communication between the gamete and the surrounding cells that is limited to paracrine signaling and direct transfer of small molecules via gap junctions existing at the end of the somatic cells' projections that are in contact with the oolemma. The purpose of this work was to explore the role of cumulus cell projections as a means of conductance of large molecules, including RNA, to the mammalian oocyte. By studying nascent RNA with confocal and transmission electron microscopy in combination with transcript detection, we show that the somatic cells surrounding the fully grown bovine oocyte contribute to the maternal reserves by actively transferring large cargo, including mRNA and long noncoding RNA. This occurrence was further demonstrated by the reconstruction of cumulus-oocyte complexes with transfected cumulus cells transferring a synthetic transcript. We propose selective transfer of transcripts occurs, the delivery of which is supported by a remarkable synapselike vesicular trafficking connection between the cumulus cells and the gamete. This unexpected exogenous contribution to the maternal stores offers a new perspective on the determinants of female fertility.Publication Restreint Cumulus cell transcripts transit to the bovine oocyte in preparation for maturation(Society for the Study of Reproduction., 2015-11-13) Gilbert, Isabelle; Ettaoumi, Sara; Bastien, Alexandre; Gagné, Dominic; Ashkar, Fazl; Khandjian, Edward William; Macaulay, Angus; Shojaei Saadi, Habib Allah; Richard, François J.; Robert, Claude; Fournier, Éric; Sirard, Marc-André; Hyttel, P.So far, the characteristics of a good quality egg have been elusive, similar to the nature of the physiological, cellular, and molecular cues leading to its production both in vivo and in vitro. Current understanding highlights a strong and complex interdependence between the follicular cells and the gamete. Secreted factors induce cellular responses in the follicular cells, and direct exchange of small molecules from the cumulus cells to the oocyte through gap junctions controls meiotic arrest. Studying the interconnection between the cumulus cells and the oocyte, we previously demonstrated that the somatic cells also contribute transcripts to the gamete. Here, we show that these transcripts can be visualized moving down the transzonal projections (TZPs) to the oocyte, and that a time course analysis revealed progressive RNA accumulation in the TZPs, indicating that RNA transfer occurs before the initiation of meiosis resumption under a timetable fitting with the acquisition of developmental competence. A comparison of the identity of the nascent transcripts trafficking in the TZPs, with those in the oocyte increasing in abundance during maturation, and that are present on the oocyte's polyribosomes, revealed transcripts common to all three fractions, suggesting the use of transferred transcripts for translation. Furthermore, the removal of potential RNA trafficking by stripping the cumulus cells caused a significant reduction in maturation rates, indicating the need for the cumulus cell RNA transfer to the oocyte. These results offer a new perspective to the determinants of oocyte quality and female fertility, as well as provide insight that may eventually be used to improve in vitro maturation conditions.