Fig. 2: Impact of Sod2 conditional knockout on oocyte quality during maternal aging. | Communications Biology

Fig. 2: Impact of Sod2 conditional knockout on oocyte quality during maternal aging.

From: Maintaining mitochondrial DNA copy number mitigates ROS-induced oocyte decline and female reproductive aging

Fig. 2

a Representative image of spindle morphology (red: tubulin; blue: chromosomes) in oocytes. Circles delineate oocyte boundaries. Up panel: normal homologous chromosome alignment on metaphase II spindles in L/L oocytes. Low: spindle abnormalities in L/L, Cre oocytes. b Proportion of oocytes with abnormal spindles from (a). Data from 3-5 independent experiments, 3-4 mice per group. Data were mean ± SEM and were analyzed using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test, *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001. c ATP levels in individual oocytes from L/L and L/L, Cre mice across various ages. Data were mean ± SEM and were analyzed using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test, *p < 0.05. d Schematic diagram of preparation procedure for MII oocyte TEM from superovulated 6-month-old L/L and L/L, Cre mice. Created with BioRender.com. e TEM images of MII oocytes from 6-month-old L/L (left) and L/L, Cre (right) mice. Mitochondria (white arrows); lipid droplets (LD, yellow dashed lines). f Representative image of BODIPY staining (green) of MII oocytes from 6-month-old L/L and L/L, Cre female mice. g Quantification of BODIPY signals from (f). M.F.I: mean fluorescence intensity. Data were mean ± SEM and were analyzed using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test, ****p < 0.0001. h Mitochondrial area analysis of MII oocytes from (e). Violin plots show median and quartiles (dashed black line). L/L: 238 mitochondria, L/L, Cre: 161 mitochondria. Kruskal-Wallis test: **p < 0.01. i Mitochondrial longer diameter (major axis) and shorter diameter (minor axis) of MII oocytes from (e). Violin plots indicate median and quartiles (dashed black line). L/L: 238 mitochondria, L/L, Cre: 161 mitochondria. Kruskal-Wallis test: ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001. j Mitochondrial circularity in MII oocytes from (e), indicating shape uniformity. A circularity value closer to 1 indicates a higher proportion of mitochondria with a circular shape. Violin plots display median and quartiles (dashed black line). L/L: 238 mitochondria, L/L, Cre: 161 mitochondria. Kruskal-Wallis test: *p < 0.05.

Back to article page