Postovulatory aging oocytes usually feature diminished
potential
for fertilization and poor embryonic development due to enhanced oxidative
damage to the subcellular organelles and macromolecules, which stands
as a formidable obstacle in assisted reproductive technologies (ART).
Here, we developed lipoic acid (LA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified
CeO2 nanoparticles (LA-PEG-CeNPs) with biocompatibility,
enzyme-like autocatalytic activity, and free radical scavenging capacity.
We further investigated the LA-PEG-CeNPs effect in mouse postovulatory
oocytes during in vitro aging. The results showed that LA-PEG-CeNPs
dramatically reduced the accumulation of ROS in aging oocytes, improving
mitochondrial dysfunction; they also down-regulated the pro-apoptotic
activity by rectifying cellular caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3, and
Bcl-2 levels. Consistently, this nanoenzyme prominently alleviated
the proportion of abnormalities in spindle structure, chromosome alignment,
microtubule stability, and filamentous actin (F-actin) distribution
in aging oocytes, furthermore decreased oocyte fragmentation, and
improved its ability of fertilization and development to blastocyst.
Taken together, our finding suggests that LA-PEG-CeNPs can alleviate
oxidative stress damage on oocyte quality during postovulatory aging,
implying their potential value for clinical practice in assisted reproduction.