Effects of Lycopene on Sheep Oocyte Maturation and Subsequent Parthenogenetic Embryo Development
Zhenghang Li, Wenjuan Zhao, Zihao Ma, Jiali Zhu, Shangya Deng, Yue Zhang, Weibin Zeng, Pengcheng Wan, Guangdong Hu · 2026
Read Effects of Lycopene on Sheep Oocyte Maturation and Subsequent Parthenogenetic Embryo Development by Zhenghang Li, Wenjuan Zhao, Zihao Ma, Jiali Zhu, Shangya Deng, Yue Zhang, Weibin Zeng, Pengcheng Wan, Guangdong Hu (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13295456.txt.
Description
Zhenghang Li and colleagues add tomato pigment to sheep egg cells growing in the lab and watch them thrive, in a 2026 study. Lycopene, the red carotenoid in tomatoes, fights oxidative damage, and eggs matured in dishes suffer exactly that kind of harm from reactive oxygen. The team cultured sheep oocytes and then artificially activated embryos across four lycopene doses, checking maturation signs, embryo development, and cell health markers.
A middle dose did the most good. Eggs matured more completely, with tidier chromosome spindles and wider helper-cell expansion, and embryos cleaved and reached the blastocyst stage at higher rates. Reactive oxygen fell while the protective molecule glutathione rose, mitochondria worked harder, and blastocysts carried more cells. Genes for stress defense and cell death shifted in favorable directions. Too much lycopene backfired at the top dose, a reminder that supplements have sweet spots.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zhenghang Li, Wenjuan Zhao, Zihao Ma, Jiali Zhu, Shangya Deng, Yue Zhang, Weibin Zeng, Pengcheng Wan, Guangdong Hu |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 28 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |