Expression of the Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP2) in the Human Cumulus Cells as a Biomarker of Oocytes and Embryo Quality

The members of the transforming growth factor-B superfamily, as the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) subfamily and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), play a role during follicular development, and the bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2), AMH, and THY1 are expressed in ovaries. This study was designed to define whether or not the expressions of these proteins in human cumulus cells (CCs) can be used as predictors of the oocyte and embryo competence. The study included nine female patients who were diagnosed as idiopathic infertility, aged 25-33 years (median 30 years) and underwent Assisted Reproductive Technologies. The CCs from 60 oocyte-cumulus complexes obtained from the nine patients were evaluated with immunofluorescence staining in respect of BMPs, AMH and THY1 markers. The CCs surrounding the same oocytes were evaluated separately according to the oocyte and embryo quality. Quantitative data were statistically analyzed for differences using the two-sided Mann-Whitney U test ( < 0.05). Significant differences in immunofluorescence staining were observed in oocyte quality and embryo quality for the BMP2 only ( < 0.05). No significant differences were observed for AMH or CD90/THY1. These results demonstrated that there is a significant difference in the expression of BMP2 in the CCs of good quality oocytes and subsequently a good embryo.