Mitochondrial biogenesis and degradation are induced by CCCP treatment of porcine oocytes

In this study, we investigated the mitochondrial quality control system in porcine oocytes during meiotic maturation. Cumulus cell oocyte complexes (COCs) collected from gilt ovaries were treated with 10 mu M carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP; a mitochondrial uncoupler) for 2 h. The CCCP treatment was found to significantly reduce ATP content, increase the amount of phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase and elevate reactive oxygen species levels in oocytes. When the CCCP-treated COCs were cultured further for 44 h in maturation medium, the ATP levels were restored and the parthenogenetic developmental rate of oocytes to the blastocyst stage was comparable with that of untreated COCs. To examine the effects of CCCP treatment of oocytes on the kinetics of mitochondrial DNA copy number (Mt number), COCs treated with 0 or 10 mu M CCCP were cultured for 44 h, after which the Mt number was determined by RT-PCR. CCCP treatment was found to increase the Mt number in the modified maturation medium in which mitochondrial degradation was inhibited by MG132, whereas CCCP treatment did not affect the Mt number in the maturation medium lacking MG132. The relative gene expression of TFAM was furthermore shown to be significantly higher in CCCP-treated oocytes than in untreated oocytes. Taken together, the finding presented here suggest that when the mitochondria are injured, mitochondrial biogenesis and degradation are induced, and that these processes may contribute to the recuperation of oocytes.