THE EFFECT OF PREIMPLANTATION EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT ARREST ON ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TREATMENT RESULTS

Objective: During assisted reproductive treatments, human preimplantation embryo's development can sometimes may stop cleavage at various stages due to in vitro culture media, patient age, ovarian stimulation protocols, and gametes. Implantation failure and abortion can be observed after the transfer of other embryos, which have normal development, in couples with developmental arrest. On the other hand, the underlying causes of embryonic arrest cannot be explained clearly. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of early embryonic arrest on the success of assisted reproductive techniques

RNA ISOLATION AND DETECTION OF CELLULAR RNA QUANTITY OF SPERMATOZOA AND EMBRYOS PRIOR TO GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSES

Objective: Biological samples that are analyzed in reproductive biology are generally rare, difficult to obtain, and a nonreplicable group of cells. Furthermore, investigating low numbers of cells requires modifications to the routine methods used in genetic analyses. The aim of our study was to improve RNA isolation methods for obtaining a sufficient amount of total RNA from spermatozoa and embryo samples for downstream gene expression analyses

The rs2516839 variation of USF1 gene is associated with 4-year mortality of nonagenarian women: The Vitality 90+study

Upstream transcription factor 1 (USF1) regulates the transcription of many genes related to cell and organism survival processes such as stress and immune response, regulation of cellular senesce, and carcinogenesis. In this study, our aim was to investigate the effect of USF1 single nucleotide variations (SNVs) on longevity in the Vitality 90+ study, a population-based study of nonagenarians (90 +/- 1 years of age) living in the area of Tampere municipality, Finland. Altogether 509 voluntary nonagenarians (115 males, 394 females) were genotyped using the 5 '-nuclease assay for rs2774279G > A, rs2516839T > C, and rs2073658C > T SNVs. During the 4 years of follow-up, the total mortality rate was 64.2%. In the study, we found that the frequency of C-allele of rs2516839 among nonsurviving nonagenarians (52.5%) was higher than those who survived (41.2%; P = 0.0006, odds ratio = 1.575, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.215-2.041). Furthermore, carriage of this variation and its haplotypes had a significant gender by genotype interaction (P C was found to be associated with shorter life expectancy in nonagenarian women (hazard ratio = 2.27; 95% CI, 1.34-3.85 P = 0.002). In conclusion, rs2516839 variation and related haplotypes of the USF1 gene are strongly related to all-cause mortality in Finnish nonagenarians, especially among women