Oocyte Quiescence: From Formation to Awakening

Decades of work using various model organisms have resulted in an exciting and emerging field of oocyte maturation. High levels of insulin and active mTOR signals indicative of a good nutritional environment, and hormones such as gonadotrophin indicative of the growth of the organism work together to control oocyte maturation in order to ensure that reproduction happens at the right timing under the right conditions. In the wild, animals often face serious challenges to maintain oocyte quiescence under long-term unfavorable conditions in the absence of mates or food. Failure to maintain oocyte quiescence will result in activation of oocytes at the wrong time, and thus lead to exhaustion of the oocyte pool and sterility of the organism. In this review, we discuss the shared mechanisms in oocyte quiescence and awakening, and a conserved role of noradrenergic signals in maintenance of the quiescent oocyte pool under unfavorable conditions in simple model organisms.