Figure 6

Effect of FSH, cGMP analogues and CNP on cumulus expansion and expression of cumulus expansion-related genes in cultured COCs. (a) COCs cultured in control medium. (b) COCs cultured in medium supplemented with FSH (1 IU/ml). (c) COCs cultured in medium with 8-CPT-cGMP (1 mM). (d) COCs cultured in medium with FSH and 8-CPT-cGMP. (e) COCs cultured in medium with 8-Br-cGMP (1 mM). (f) COCs cultured in medium with FSH and 8-Br-cGMP. (g) COCs cultured in medium with CNP (100 nM). (h) COCs cultured in medium with FSH and CNP. Bar = 400 μm. (i) Effect of CNP and (j) cGMP analogues on FSH-induced expression of cumulus expansion-related genes. The relative abundance of specific gene mRNA was assessed by real-time RT-PCR and is expressed in arbitrary units as fold increases in the specific gene/ACTB ratio over the level found in COCs stimulated with FSH (1 IU/ml). The different superscripts above the columns indicate significant differences (P < 0.05).