Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is known to be a regulator of oocyte maturation in a large number of animal species. In maturing mammalian oocytes, the accumulation of exogenous, maternal serotonin occurs due to the activity of the membrane transporter SERT. In this work, we investigated how SERT activity in oocytes correlates with indicators of follicular selection and oocyte maturity. An immunohistochemical study showed that the difference in the 5-HT intake activity in oocytes does not correlate with the marker of apoptosis in follicular cells, but positively correlates with markers of follicular growth, such as granulosa proliferation and follicle size. Functional analysis of oocytes at different stages of maturation showed that the expression and activity of SERT increases with oocyte maturation. An in vivo experiment on administration of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine (20 mg/kg) for 7 days showed a significant decrease in the content of serotonin in both growing GV-oocytes and ovulated mature MII-oocytes. The data obtained clearly indicate that the mechanism of specific membrane transport of serotonin normally ensures the accumulation of serotonin in maturing oocytes, and can be considered as a promising positive marker of their mature status.
Keywords: SERT; SSRI; apoptosis; fluoxetine; oocyte maturation; ovary; proliferation; serotonin.