Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Is caspase inhibition a valid therapeutic strategy in cryopreservation of ovarian tissue?

  • FERTILITY PRESERVATION
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to determine whether inclusion of caspase inhibitor can improve the efficacy of cryopreservation of ovarian tissue.

Methods

Mice were randomly assigned to the Group A (fresh control group) Group B (inclusion of caspase inhibitor) and Group C (non-inclusion of caspase inhibitor). Ovarian tissue in Group B and Group C was vitrified-thawed. TUNEL assay and Bax protein detection were measured after cryopreservation. The mice in all groups received autotransplantation. The number of days before the resumption of estrous cycles was measured daily from the 5th day after surgery, and the percentage of cells expressing PCNA in grafts was measured one month following transplantation.

Results

The incidence of TUNEL positive follicles in Group B was significantly higher than that in Group C. Similarly, the percentage of follicles expressing Bax protein in Group B was significantly higher than that in Group C. The number of days before the resumption of estrous cycles in Group B was significantly less than that in Group C. In addition, the percentage of follicular and stromal cells expressing PCNA of grafts in Group B was significantly higher than that in Group C.

Conclusions

The global caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK decreases the incidence of apoptosis of ovarian tissue induced by cryopreservation, and inclusion of caspase inhibitor improves the efficacy of cryopreservation of ovarian tissue.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Baker TG. Radiosensitivity of mammalian oocytes with particular reference to the human female. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1971;110:746–61.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Apperley JF, Reddy N. Mechanism and management of treatment-related gonadal failure in recipients of high dose chemoradiotherapy. Blood Rev. 1995;9:93–116.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Oktay K, Economos K, Kan M, Rucinski J, Veeck L, Rosenwaks Z. Endocrine function and oocyte retrieval after autologous transplantation of ovarian cortical strips to the forearm. JAMA. 2001;286:1490–3.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Baird DT, Webb R, Campbell BK, Harkness LM, Gsden RG. Long-term ovarian function in sheep after ovariectomy and transplantation of autografts stored at −196°C. Endocrinology. 1999;140:462–71.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Rimon E, Cohen T, Dantes A. Apoptosis in cryopreserved human ovarian tissue obtained from cancer patients: a tool for evaluating cryopreservation utility. Int J Oncol. 2005;27:345–53.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Tirelli M, Basini G, Grasselli F, Bianco F, Tamanini C. Cryopreservation of pig granulosa cells: effect of FSH addition to freezing medium. Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2005;28:17–33.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cryns V, Yuan J. Proteases to die for. Genes Dev. 1998;12:1551–70.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rugh R. The mouse: its reproduction and development. New York: Oxford University Press; 1990. p. 38–9.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Torrents E, Boiso I, Barri PN. Applications of ovarian tissue transplantation in experimental biology and medicine. Hum Reprod Update. 2003;9:471–81.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Gosden RG. Low temperature storage and grafting of human ovarian tissue. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2000;163:125–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Nugent D, Neirow D, Brook PE, Aubard Y, Gosden RG. Transplantation in reproductive medicine: previous experience, present knowledge and future prospects. Hum Reprod Update. 1997;3:267–80.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Gao D, Critser JK. Mechanisms of cryoinjury in living cells. ILAR. 2000;41:181–96.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Mazur P. Freezing of living cells: mechanism and implications. Am J Physiol. 1984;247:C125–42.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Fauqe P, Amor AB, Joanne CJ, Agnani G. Use of trypan blue staining to assess the quality of ovarian cryopreservation. Fertil Steril. 2007;87:1200–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Onions VJ, Mitchell MRP, Campbell BK, Webb R. Ovarian tissue viability following whole ovine ovary cryopreservation: assessing the effects of sphingosine-1-phosphate inclusion. Hum Reprod. 2008;23:606–18.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Shin SY, Lee JY, Lee EY. Protective effect of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in frozen-thawed granulosa cells is mediated by inhibition of apoptosis. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2006;125:233–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Morita Y, Perez GI, Paris F. Oocyte apoptosis is suppressed by disruption of the acid sphingomyelinase gene or by sphingosine-1-phosphate therapy. Nat Med. 2000;6:1109–14.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Perez GI, Knudson CM, Leykin L, Korsmeyer SJ, Tilly TL. Apoptosis-associated signaling pathways are required for chemotherapy-mediated female germ cell destruction. Nat Med. 1997;3:1228–32.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Haimovitz-Friedman A, Kan CC, Ehleiter D, Persud RS, McLoughlin M, Fuks Z, et al. Ionizing radiation acts on cellular membranes to generate ceramide and initiate apoptosis. J Exp Med. 1994;180:525–35.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Alnemri ES. Mammalian cell death proteases: a family of highly conserved aspartate specific cysteine proteases. J Cell Biochem. 1997;64:33–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Green DR, Reed JC. Mitochondria and apoptosis. Science. 1998;281:1309–12.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Nicholson DW. Caspase structure, proteolytic substrates, and function during apoptotic cell death. Cell Death Differ. 1999;6:1028–42.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Thornberry N, Lazebnik Y. Caspase: enimies within. Science. 1998;281:1312–6.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Earnshaw WC. Mammalian caspases: structure, activation, substrates, and functions during apoptosis. Annu Rev Bio Chem. 1999;68:383–424.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Slee EA. Serial killers: ordering caspase activation events in apoptosis. Cell Death Differ. 1999;6:1074–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Budihardjo I. Biochemical pathways of caspase activation during apoptosis. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 1999;15:269–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Liu X. DEF, a heterodimeric protein that functions downstream of caspase-3 to trigger DNA fragmentation during apoptosis. Cell. 1997;89:175–84.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Simizu S. Requirement of caspase-3(-like)protease-mediated hydrogen peroxide production for apoptosis induced by various anticancer drugs. J Biol Chem. 1998;273:26900–7.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Zheng T. Caspase-3 controls both cytoplasmic and nuclear events associated with Fas-mediated apoptosis in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1998;95:13618–23.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Gottlieb RA, Gruol DL, Zhu JY. Preconditioning rabbit cardiomyocytes: role of pH, vacuolar proton ATPase, and apoptosis. J Clin Invest. 1996;97:2391–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Himi T, Ishizaki Y, Murota SI. A caspase inhibitor blocks ischaemia-induced delayed neuronal death in the gerbil. Eur J Neurosci. 1998;10:777–81.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Ma J, Endres M, Moskowiz MA. Synergistic effects of caspase inhibitors and MK-801 in brain injury after transient focal cerebral ischemia in mice. Br J Pharmacol. 1998;124:756–62.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Men H, Agca Y, Riley LK, Critser JK. Improved survival of vitrified porcine embryos after partial delipidation through chemically stimulated lipolysis and inhibition of apoptosis. Theriogenology 2006;2008–16.

  34. Bernardi P, Broekemeier KM, Pfeiffer DR. Recent progress on regulation of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore: a cyclosporing-sensitive pore in inner mitochondrial membrane. J Bioenerg Biomembr. 1994;26:509–17.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Xiong Y, Connolly T, Futcher B, Beach D. Human D-type cyclin. Cell. 1991;65:691–9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Liu Y, Marraccino RL, Keng PC. Requirement for proliferating cell nuclear antigen expression during stages of the Chinese hamster ovary cell cycle. Biochemistry. 1989;28:2967–74.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Appreciation is extended to Dr Bin Cai for his review and comment and Xiao-Hua Hu from department of pathology for supporting this work.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Haining Road 100, Shanghai, 200080, China

    Jian-Min Zhang, Lin-Xia Li, Yi-Xia Yang, Xue-Lian Liu & Xiao-Ping Wan

Authors
  1. Jian-Min Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lin-Xia Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yi-Xia Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xue-Lian Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Xiao-Ping Wan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiao-Ping Wan.

Additional information

Capsule Caspase inhibition is a valid therapeutic strategy in cryopreservation of ovarian tissue.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhang, JM., Li, LX., Yang, YX. et al. Is caspase inhibition a valid therapeutic strategy in cryopreservation of ovarian tissue?. J Assist Reprod Genet 26, 415–420 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-009-9331-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-009-9331-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation