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Chapter 1 - Cell Polarity in Oocyte Development
Book chapter

Chapter 1 - Cell Polarity in Oocyte Development

Denise Oh and Douglas W Houston
Cell Polarity in Development and Disease, pp.1-29
Elsevier Inc
2018
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-802438-6.00001-2

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Abstract

The polarization of the oocyte is important for both normal oogenesis and for subsequent embryo development. Although it has long-been known that the formation of the Balbiani body or mitochondrial cloud is essential for oocyte polarity in some organisms, recent data have provided more detail on the mechanisms of its assembly and structure. This chapter reviews basic oocyte polarity in vertebrate model organisms and its relation to ovarian cyst development. We highlight recent studies in zebrafish and Xenopus linking Balbiani body to meiotic chromosomal bouquet formation and implicating amyloid aggregation of Buc/Velo1, a key Balbiani body component. Additionally, the role of oocyte polarity on influencing superficial epithelial cell fate in early frog and fish development is addressed. The extent that harnessing normal oocyte polarity would be critical in the engineering of eggs from stem cells for reproductive regenerative medicine is also discussed.
Balbiani body Cell polarity mRNA localization Oogenesis Vertebrate development Xenopus

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