Androgens promote maturation and signaling in mouse oocytes independent of transcription: a release of inhibition model for mammalian oocyte meiosis.

Normal fertility in females depends upon precise regulation of oocyte meiosis. Oocytes are arrested in prophase I of meiosis until just before ovulation, when meiosis, or maturation, is triggered to resume. Whereas sex steroids appear to promote maturation in fish and amphibians, the factors regulating mammalian oocyte maturation have remained obscure. We show here that, similar to lower vertebrates, steroids may play a role in promoting the release of meiotic inhibition in mammals. Specifically, testosterone induced maturation of mouse oocytes arrested in meiosis, as well as activation of MAPK and cyclin-dependent kinase 1 signaling. These responses appeared to be transcription independent and might involve signaling through classical androgen receptors expressed in the oocytes. Our results are the first to show that sex steroids can modulate meiosis in mammalian oocytes and suggest a model whereby dominant ovarian follicles in mammals may produce sufficient androgen and/or other steroids to overcome constitutive inhibitory signals and allow oocyte maturation and subsequent ovulation to occur.