Dynamics of distribution of splicing components relative to the transcriptional state of human oocytes from antral follicles

✍ Scribed by Vladimir N. Parfenov; Donna S. Davis; Galina N. Pochukalina; D. Kostyuchek; Kuruganti G. Murti

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 618 KB
• Volume: 69
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0730-2312
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4644(19980401)69:1<72::aid-jcb8>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

The distribution of two splicing components (snRNP and SC-35) and coilin were studied by immunogold/electron microscopy in human oocytes from antral follicles at different levels of transcriptional activity (i.e., active, intermediate, and inactive). The results showed a decrease of snRNPs and SC-35 in the karyoplasm as the oocytes progress from a transcriptionally active to the inactive state. The main areas of accumulation of both these splicing components in all stages of oocytes appeared to be the interchromatin granule clusters (IGCs). Within the IGCs, the two splicing components seemed to be spatially segregated, with the snRNPs predominantly bound to the fibrillar region, whereas the SC-35 factors are being enriched in the granular zone. The p80 coilin was found only in the nucleolus-like body (NLB), which is present in all three stages of oocytes; no coiled bodies were evident. These data are consistent with the notion that splicing occurs in the karyoplasm and that the splicing components are mobilized from a storage site (IGCs) to the site of action.