News Releases & Research Results Appropriate amount of lipids are essential for the development of fertilized eggs―A finding obtained using an advanced technology to remove lipid droplets from mouse oocytes

News Releases & Research Results

Outline

Results of research led by Principal Researcher Satoshi Tsukamoto, Researcher Ryutaro Aizawa of the Laboratory Animal and Genome Sciences Section, National Institute for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, and others.

The key results of the research are as follows

  • The research developed the world’s first method to isolate lipid droplets from live mouse oocytes (a type of subcellular organelles comprising neutral lipids).
  • Using the method, the study found that delipidation blocks the development of fertilized eggs, while overabundance of lipid droplets reduces the percentage of normally developed fertilized eggs by half.
  • The results of research are expected to clarify the relationships among the amount of lipid droplets, quality of oocytes, and infertility and to help develop scientific methods to evaluate the quality of oocytes and fertilized eggs.

This project was conducted with the support of Project for Baby and Infant in Research of healTH and Development to Adolescent and Young adult (BIRTHDAY) by AMED.

The results of research were published in the online version of Development, a British scientific journal, on November 26.

Article

11/26/19

Last updated 11/26/19