Open AccessChromosome cohesion decreases in human eggs with advanced maternal age
Author(s) -
Duncan Francesca E.,
Hornick Jessica E.,
Lampson Michael A.,
Schultz Richard M.,
Shea Lonnie D.,
Woodruff Teresa K.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
aging cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1474-9726
pISSN - 1474-9718
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2012.00866.x
Subject(s) - biology , aneuploidy , sister chromatids , oocyte , establishment of sister chromatid cohesion , advanced maternal age , infertility , andrology , centromere , chromosome segregation , chromosome , genetics , fetus , pregnancy , embryo , medicine , gene
Summary Aneuploidy in human eggs increases with maternal age and can result in infertility, miscarriages, and birth defects. The molecular mechanisms leading to aneuploidy, however, are largely unknown especially in the human where eggs are exceedingly rare and precious. We obtained human eggs from subjects ranging from 16.4 to 49.7 years old following in vitro maturation of oocyte‐cumulus complexes isolated directly from surgically removed ovarian tissue. A subset of these eggs was used to investigate how age‐associated aneuploidy occurs in the human. The inter‐kinetochore distance between sister chromatids increased significantly with maternal age, indicating weakened cohesion. Moreover, we observed unpaired sister chromatids from females of advanced age. We conclude that loss of cohesion with increasing maternal age likely contributes to the well‐documented increased incidence of aneuploidy.