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Plasma membrane water permeabilities of human oocytes: The temperature dependence of water movement in individual cells
Author(s) -
Hunter J.,
Bernard A.,
Fuller B.,
McGrath J.,
Shaw R. W.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of cellular physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 174
eISSN - 1097-4652
pISSN - 0021-9541
DOI - 10.1002/jcp.1041500123
Subject(s) - oocyte , cryopreservation , arrhenius equation , activation energy , membrane , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , permeability (electromagnetism) , atmospheric temperature range , linear relationship , thermodynamics , andrology , biophysics , chromatography , biology , physics , embryo , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , mathematics , medicine , statistics
Membrane water permeability values were measured in individual fresh human pre‐ovulatory oocytes using real time microscopy in a microscope diffusion chamber. The cells were exposed to anisosmotic conditions, their volume responses measured, and from these data the Lp values were computed employing the Kedem‐Katchalsky analyses of irreversible thermodynamics. Lp values were measured at four temperatures for each oocyte between 37°C and 10°C, and the temperature‐related Arrhenius activation energy (Ea) calculated. It was apparent that individual oocytes exhibited a wide range of Lp values; at 37°C Lp values ranged between 0.33 and 1.80 μm/atm/min. However, each oocyte exhibited the expected inverse linear correlation between Lp and temperature, with high linear correlations (R 2 values between 0.73 and 0.96). A mean value for Ea of 8.61 ± 5.11 Kcal/mol was computed. It is apparent that pre‐ovulatory human oocytes express a range of biological diversity in terms of membrane water transport, and this fact needs to be considered when attempting to formulate cryopreservation protocols for storage of these oocytes.