This study aims to investigate the effects of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) on the survival and growth of caprine preantral follicles. Ovarian tissues were cultured for 1, 7, 14, 21 or 28 days in medium supplemented with FSH (FSH-2d or FSH-7d, i.e., with replacement of the culture medium every 2 or 7 days, respectively) or FSH+FGF-2 (replacement of th...

Mammalian oocytes grow within ovarian follicles in which the oocyte is coupled to surrounding granulosa cells by gap junctions. We report here that growing oocytes isolated from mouse preantral follicles are incapable of recovering from an experimentally induced acidosis, and that oocytes acquire the ability to manage acid loads by activating Na(+)/H(+) exchange during growth. By contrast, gran...

Fas ligand (FasL) and its receptor Fas have been implicated in granulosa cell apoptosis during follicular atresia. Although interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is believed to be involved in the regulation Fas expression in differentiated granulosa or granulosa-luteal cells, the expression of this cytokine and its role in the regulation of the granulosa cell Fas/FasL system and apoptosis during follicular ...

Background: To determine the effect of ovarian stimulation on the height of the epithelial cells of fallopian tubes and development of ovarian follicles and corpus luteum in NMRI mice. Materials and Methods: Forty female NMRI mice of 6 to 8 weeks were selected and divided into 4 groups: control group, 10 mice that were injected with saline. The second group of 10 mice that were injected with 7 ...

this manuscript reviews the present knowledge related to folliculogenesis in sheep.folliculogenesis starts with formation of primordial follicles before birth, present as a pool containing a certain number of follicles. by the attainment of puberty, a group of follicles from that pool starts to grow, a process known as primordial follicle activation or recruitment. the number of growing primord...

Ovarian granulosa cells are coupled via gap junctions containing connexin43 (Cx43 or alpha-1 connexin). In the absence of Cx43, granulosa cells stop growing in an early preantral stage. However, the fact that granulosa cells of mature follicles express multiple connexins complicated interpretation of this finding. The present experiments were designed to clarify the role of Cx43 vs. these other...