Hyaluronidase is widely used in animal and human assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) to remove cumulus cells around oocytes. However, adverse effects of hyaluronidase treatment, such as increased rates of degeneration and parthenogenesis, have been found after treatment of human and mouse oocytes. Currently, the mechanism(s) of the detrimental effects are unclear. The present study was initiated to identify the mechanism of adverse responses to hyaluronidase treatment in bovine oocytes and early embryos. Cumulus cells were removed from cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) with or without hyaluronidase and the oocytes were subjected to intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF). Significantly lower rates of blastocyst formation were obtained in the hyaluronidase treatment group after ICSI (22.4%) and IVF (21.2%) compared with the non-hyaluronidase control groups: 36.1% after ICSI and 30.4% after IVF. Next, we examined the effect of hyaluronidase on parthenogenetic development rates and on the cytoplasmic levels of free calcium ions (Ca2+), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduced glutathione (GSH). No differences in parthenogenesis rates were found between treated and untreated groups. Ca2+ levels in oocytes from the hyaluronidase treatment group indicated using mean fluorescence intensity were significantly higher (68.8 ± 5.3) compared with in the control group (45.0 ± 2.5). No differences were found in the levels of ROS or GSH between the treated and untreated groups. We conclude that hyaluronidase might trigger an increase in Ca2+ levels in oocytes, resulting in a decreased potential for normal embryonic development.

Many neurons and their synapses are enwrapped in a brain-specific form of the extracellular matrix (ECM), the so-called perineuronal net (PNN). It forms late in the postnatal development around the time when synaptic contacts are stabilized. It is made of glycoproteins and proteoglycans of glial as well as neuronal origin. The major organizing polysaccharide of brain extracellular space is the polymeric carbohydrate hyaluronic acid (HA). It forms the backbone of a meshwork consisting of CNS proteoglycans such as the lectican family of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPG). This family comprises four abundant components of brain ECM: aggrecan and versican as broadly expressed CSPGs and neurocan and brevican as nervous-system-specific family members. In this review, we intend to focus on the specific role of the HA-based ECM in synapse development and function.

The present study was conducted to examine the effects of three polyphenols (tannic acid, apigenin and quercetin) on hyaluronidase activity and in vitro fertilization (IVF) parameters. Among them, tannic acid showed by far the strongest potency for blocking hyaluronidase activity extracted from preincubated boar sperm, causing a dose-dependent inhibition over the range of 2–10 μg/ml. When cumulus-intact and cumulus-free oocytes were inseminated in IVF medium containing tannic acid, the penetration and the polyspermy rates were significantly decreased in the presence of 10 μg/ml tannic acid compared with those in the absence of tannic acid, and the addition of 5 μg/ml tannic acid significantly reduced the polyspermy rate (p < 0.05) compared with that of the control while maintaining the high penetration rate. However, apigenin and quercetin had no effect on the rate of polyspermy. Interestingly, the incidence of polyspermy was significantly reduced in oocytes inseminated with sperm pretreated with 5 μg/ml tannic acid (p < 0.05), although the pretreatment of oocytes had no effect against the polyspermy after insemination with untreated sperm. Treatment with tannic acid caused neither a protective proteolytic modification of the zona pellucida matrix before fertilization, nor a reduction of the proteolytic activity of acrosomal contents or the number of zona-bound spermatozoa. These data suggest that an appropriate concentration of tannic acid prevents polyspermy through the inhibition of sperm hyaluronidase activity during IVF of porcine oocytes.