• Applied Microscopy
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.21-43
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• 1977

This experiment was undertaken in order to localize the labeled dbcAMP (dibutyryl cyclic AMP) in oocytes whose development has been suppressed by cold dbcAMP for 6 or 19 hours in vitro. Mouse oocytes were obtained from the ovaries of 3-4 week old A strain female mice, by puncturing the Graafian follicles in the modified Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate salt solution under the dissecting microscope. Those oocytes which have intact germinal vesicle were cultured in the basic culture medium supplemented with 0.4% bovine serum albumin (BSA). Cultivation of the oocytes was carried out in a microtube developed by Cho (1974). The cultures were then incubated in a humidified 5% $CO_2$ incubator maintained at $37^{\circ}C$ for 6 or 19 hours (Donahue, 1968). DbcAMP was added to culture medium for a final concentration of 100ug/ml, and $^3H-dbc$ AMP (specific activity 13 Ci/mM) for a final concentration of $40{\mu}Ci/ml$ was also added to the medium. For electron microscopic autoradiography, those oocytes recovered from the culture were washed with phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), and immediately prefixed in a 2.5% glutaraldehyde overnight and postfixed for 2 hours at $4 ^{\circ}C$ in 1% osmium tetroxide in phosphate buffer with pH 7.4 (Palade, 1952). After fixation, the materials were dehydrated in graded alcohol series and embedded in Epon 812 mixture based on the standard procedures (Luft, 1961). The thin sections $600-700{\AA}$ thick were mounted on the grids of 200 meshes. The grids containing sections were coated with a nuclear emulsion Kodak NTB-3 and stored in a cold dark box (at $4^{\circ}C$) for 3 weeks. After exposure, the samples were developed with Kodak D-19 and stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. Routine observation was made with Hitachi HU-11E electron microsocope. The results of the observation were as followings: 1. It was found that the labeled dbcAMP penetrated the egg plasma membrane and dispersed at random in the cytoplasm. 2. It was also observed that most of the labeled dbcAMP was attached to microfibrillar lattices portion of the oocyte cytoplasm. There fore, it is presumed that the receptor of the dbcAMP is localized in the microfibrillar lattices of the oocyte. 3. It also seems that some other cell organells such as mitochondria, Golgi complex, cortical granules are not directly related to the action of the dbcAMP. 4. The labeled dbcAMP was neither observed in the membrane nor in the nucleus. Therefore, it seems that there is no relationship between the concentration of dbcAMP and the nuclear membranous permeability. 5. There was no difference in number of dbcAMP particles when oocytes were cultured for 6 hours and 19 hours. 6. However, it was observed that, in same of the oocytes suppressed in germinal vesicle by dbcAMP for 19 hours, cell organells were moved and concentrated to a small portion of the cytoplasm, and that the morphology of the organells greatly changed to an abnormal. form. Therefore, it is supposed that those oocytes were in the process of degeneration. From the above results, it is expected that dbcAMP penetrated the egg membrane and was bound to the receptor which seems to be located in the microfibrillar lattiees portion, and that this dbcAMP-receptor complex inhibited some enzyme system of the oocytes which are essential for the germinal vesicle breakdown.