17β-estradiol improves the developmental ability, inhibits reactive oxygen species levels and apoptosis of porcine oocytes by regulating autophagy events

Estrogen plays a critical role in the development and apoptosis of oocytes. Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved and exquisitely regulated self-eating cellular process with important biological functions including the regulation of reproduction. This study aimed to determine the effect of autophagy regulated by the biologically active form of estrogen (17β-estradiol) in porcine oocyte maturation in vitro. We measured the effects of oocyte...