Proteomic profile of culture medium of in vitro fertilization and relationship to embryonic development

• Grant number: 12/10520-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2013
• End date: February 28, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Deborah Montagnini Spaine
• Grantee: Deborah Montagnini Spaine
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Edson Guimarães Lo Turco ; Ismael Dale Cotrim Guerreiro da Silva ; Tatiana Carvalho de Souza Bonetti

Abstract

The fertilization process is a complex event which two highly specialized cells, oocyte and spermatozoa, interact by specific cellular adhesion, cell signaling, exocytosis, migration, cell fusion and cell cycle regulation. However, a number of molecular factors included in that process are not clear. In the assisted reproductive treatments by conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF), proteins secreted at fertilization moment in enriched culture medium can promote molecular biomarkers related with semen parameters and embryo quality. The proteomics approach is a sensible process for isolation, identification and characterization of proteins, which is possible to evaluate the differential protein expression. The proteins produced and secreted in a specific time and under determined conditions is a proteomics subdivision, termed secretome, which can be analyzed in different samples as biological fluids and cell culture medium. Traditional proteomic analysis associated with shotgun technology, which combine high resolution liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry, has been used for protein biomarkers research, and have a high potential for clear complexes biological profiles and pathological mechanisms. The aim of this study is to evaluate the secreted protein profile in conventional IVF culture medium, and analyze the differential protein expression in according with semen characteristics and fertilization outcomes, using a proteomic approach. (AU)