Reproduction Abstracts

It has been previously shown that multimeric pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a key component of the cumulus oophorus extracellular matrix. Noteworthy, cumuli from PTX3−/− mice were defective in matrix organization and fertility was impaired. PTX3 binds to both tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 6 (TNFAIP6) and inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor thereby likely serving as a cross linker for multiple hyaluronan molecules, stabilizing in this way the cumulus oopho...