Figure 4

DNA repair in the MII oocyte occurs via non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). To determine if the MII oocyte was capable of mounting DNA damage repair, γH2A.X fluorescent labelling was utilised to produce a kinetic profile of DNA repair over a recovery period of 6 h. γH2A.X labelling was significantly reduced by 1 h post-treatment; reaching basal levels by 4 h. Representative images illustrate that at 4 h post treatment, γH2A.X fluorescence intensity was comparable to the basal levels documented in untreated control oocytes. Statistical significance was determined using ANOVA and Tukey–Kramer HSD. A connecting letter plot was used to denote which groups differed significantly from each another. Each experiment was conducted on a minimum of three biological replicates, with each replicate comprising a minimum of 30 oocytes. All data are expressed as means ± S.E.M. Scale bar = 20 μm.