The Role of Mitophagy During Oocyte Aging in Human, Mouse, and Drosophila: Implications for Oocyte Quality and Mitochondrial Disease

Overview

Journal Reprod Fertil

Specialty Reproductive Medicine

Date 2022 Feb 4

PMID 35118415

Authors

Rachel T Cox

Joanna Poulton

Suzannah A Williams

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Lay Summary: Mitochondria are small parts of cells called organelles that generate the chemical energy needed for life. Hundreds of thousands of mitochondria in the developing eggs of the mother support the initial growth and development of the fertilized egg. However, due to increasingly diminished function over time, mitochondria generate less energy as we age, posing real problems for older women considering pregnancy. It is possible that this declining energy could be responsible for declining fertility as women age. Energy may decline because mitochondria fail and the cell's way of keeping them healthy become less efficient as we age. This review summarizes what is known about mitochondrial quality control in developing eggs as they age. In the future, understanding how the best mitochondria are selected and maintained in the egg, and hence the future baby, may enable older women with or without mitochondrial problems, to have healthy children.

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