The quality of oocytes depends largely on the capacity to resume meiotic maturation. In Xenopus laevis, only fully grown oocytes react to progesterone stimulation by resumption of meiotic maturation associated with the entry into the meiotic M-phase. Proteins involved in this process are poorly known. To identify novel proteins regulating M-phase entry, we performed a differential proteomic screen. We compared proteomes of fully grown stage VI oocytes characterized as poorly or highly responsive to progesterone treatment. The comparison of 2-D gels allowed us to identify several spots including two specifically present in highly responsive oocytes and two specifically present in poorly responsive ones. By mass spectrometry we identified the two proteins specifically present in highly responsive oocytes as inosine 5'monophosphate cyclohydrolase and YjgF homologues, and the two specifically present in poorly responsive oocytes as elongation factor 2 (EF2) and S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH). The proteins specifically expressed in highly responsive oocytes may participate in the stimulation of meiotic maturation and M-phase entry, while the proteins specifically present in poorly maturing oocytes may participate in the inhibition of meiotic resumption.
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