Kavli Affiliate: Daniel Needleman
| First 5 Authors: Brian D Leahy, Catherine Racowsky, Daniel Needleman, ,
| Summary:
Macroscopic, phenomenological models have proven useful as concise framings
of our understandings in fields from statistical physics to economics to
biology. Constructing a phenomenological model for development would provide a
framework for understanding the complicated, regulatory nature of oogenesis and
embryogenesis. Here, we use a data-driven approach to infer quantitative,
precise models of human oocyte maturation and pre-implantation embryo
development, by analyzing existing clinical In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) data
on 7,399 IVF cycles resulting in 57,827 embryos. Surprisingly, we find that
both oocyte maturation and early embryo development are quantitatively
described by simple models with minimal interactions. This simplicity suggests
that oogenesis and embryogenesis are composed of modular processes that are
relatively siloed from one another. In particular, our analysis provides strong
evidence that (i) pre-antral follicles produce anti-M{"u}llerian hormone
independently of effects from other follicles, (ii) oocytes mature to
metaphase-II independently of the woman’s age, her BMI, and other factors,
(iii) early embryo development is memoryless for the variables assessed here,
in that the probability of an embryo transitioning from its current
developmental stage to the next is independent of its previous stage. Our
results both provide insight into the fundamentals of oogenesis and
embryogenesis and have implications for the clinical practice of IVF.
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