Studies on the functional activity of organotypically cultured mouse ovary.

Short-term maintenance of mouse and rat ovary in organotypic culture system is no longer a problem (Martinovitch, 1938; Gaillard, 1953; Trowell, 1959). Gaillard (1953) cultivated ovaries from 7to 8-day-old and 21-day-old mice for a week on the plasma clot. Trowell (1959) maintained ovaries of 8-day-old mice on a synthetic medium in an O2-CO2 atmosphere for 9 days. He observed no histological differentiation in the tissues of the ovary. What needs confirmation and further investigation is the possibility of maintenance of functional activity of the ovary under culture conditions. A study was therefore undertaken to investigate if an ovary, cultivated in vitro for some time, shows hormonal activity when transplanted in vivo. In the present work cultured ovaries were grafted in the anterior eye-chamber of spayed female mice and the development of secondary sex organs such as mammary glands and uterus was studied.