Assaf Ben-Meir, Eliezer Burstein, Aluet Borrego-Alvarez, Jasmine Chong, Ellen Wong, Tetyana Yavorska, Taline Naranian, Maggie Chi, Ying Wang, Yaakov Bentov, Jennifer Alexis, James Meriano, Hoon-Ki Sung, David L Gasser, Kelle H Moley, Siegfried Hekimi, Robert F Casper, Andrea Jurisicova
Female reproductive capacity declines dramatically in the fourth decade of life as a result of an age-related decrease in oocyte quality and quantity. The primary causes of reproductive aging and the molecular factors responsible for decreased oocyte quality remain elusive. Here, we show that aging of the female germ line is accompanied by mitochondrial dysfunction associated with decreased oxidative phosphorylation and reduced Adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) level. Diminished expression of the enzymes responsible for CoQ production, Pdss2 and Coq6, was observed in oocytes of older females in both mouse and human...
October 2015: Aging Cell