Maturation of Cumulus-Oocyte Complexes for Efficient Isolation of Oocytes from Outbred Deer Mice

The outbred (as with humans) deer mice have been a useful animal model of research on human behavior and biology including that of the reproductive system. One of the major challenges in using this species is that the yield of oocyte isolation via superovulation is dismal according to the literature to date less than ∼5 oocytes per animal can be obtained so far. maturation (IVM) of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs). fertilization (IVF) and embryo development.Less than ∼5 oocytes per animal could be isolated by superovulation only. However, we successfully obtained 20.3±2.9 oocytes per animal by IVM (16.0±2.5) and superovulation (4.3±1.3) in this study. Moreover, IVF and embryo development studies suggest that IVM oocytes have even better quality than that from superovulation The latter never developed to beyond 2-cell stage as usual while 9% of the former developed to 4-cells.. Therefore, this study is of significance to the use of deer mice for reproductive biology research