Separating the contributions of zona pellucida and cytoplasm in the viscoelastic response of human oocytes.

The successful characterization of the mechanical properties of human oocytes and young embryos is of crucial relevance to reduce the risk of pregnancy arrest in in-vitro fertilization processes. Unfortunately, current study has been hindered by the lack of accuracy in describing the mechanical contributions of each structure (zona pellucida, cytoplasm) due to its high heterogeneity. In this work, we present a novel approach to model the oocyte response taking into account the effect of both zona and cytoplasm, as well as different loading conditions. The model is then applied to develop an experimental protocol capable of accurately separating the viscoelastic contribution of zona and cytoplasm by simply varying the loading condition. This new protocol has the potential to open the door to improving our understanding the mechanical properties of oocytes at different stages, and provide a quantitative predictive ability to the evaluation of oocyte quality.