Gasotransmitters in Gametogenesis and Early Development: Holy Trinity for Assisted Reproductive Technology—A Review

Figure 1

Gasotransmission in oocytes, resulting in S-sulfhydration and nitrosylation of various factors. Both gasotransmitters NO and H₂S are enzymatically released, respectively, from L-arginine and L-cysteine. Subsequently, NO- and/or H₂S-posttranslationally modified proteins lead to MPF/MAPK-orchestrated meiotic maturation reinitiation (equal to GVBD, germinal vesicle breakdown) and completion (with extruded polar body and small particles visible in perivitelline space). S-sulfhydration of MEK, upstream MAPK kinase, is known [61] and more S-sulfhydrated factors are considered. In addition to S-sulfhydration, S-nitrosylation seems to be exclusive mechanism of NO-regulated oocyte maturation [34]. Disclosure of complete “S-sulfhydration” and “S-nitrosylation” is still lacking (X-S-SH, X-S-NO) and we can assume wide protein index underwent this posttranslational modifications as well as NO-H₂S intraprotein cross-talking (HS-S-X-S-NO).