The fetal gonad is composed of a mixture of somatic cell lineages and germ cells. The fate of the gonad, male or female, is determined by a population of somatic cells that differentiate into Sertoli or granulosa cells and direct testis or ovary development. It is well established that germ cells are not required for the establishment or maintenance of Sertoli cells or testis cords in the male ...

Vitellogenic stage carp ovaries were collected aseptically and the cells of ovarian follicles were dispersed by trypsin treatment and cultivated as monolayer. Control cultures were grown in medium M199 alone. Media for experimental cultures were supplemented either with 100 µl ml-1 of CPH and CPS-carp GnRH (cultivated pituitary cell secretion affected by 10-6, 10-8, 10-10 M carp GnRH). The dire...

The effects of PMSG on the mitotic activity of granulosa cells and atresia of large folicles in 24-day-old rats were examined. The results showed that the labelling index (1) decreased in atretic follicles parallel with a loss of FSH binding, and (2) increased in hypophysectomized rats treated with FSH. It is concluded that FSH stimulates granulosa cell divisions and that atresia may be caused ...

Follicular atresia in the ovaries of Japanese quail was studied by cytochemistry and electron microscopy. Three different types of cell death coexisted in the granulosa. A large number of cells showed signs of apoptosis. The DNA fragmentation in these cells was demonstrated in a previous study using in situ end-labeling. A second and non-negligible type of cell death consisted of extensive auto...

The steroid hormone estradiol, and the glycoprotein hormones follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), are known to be essential for the growth and differentiation of follicles in the ovary. The present study was conducted to determine quantitatively the effects of estradiol, FSH and LH on proliferation of different ovarian cell types (granulosa and theca cells). The imma...

this study was performed to determine the incidence and anatomo-pathological aspects of the reproductive system tumors in commercial laying hens. post mortem examination of 1041 laying hens revealed neoplasms of the ovaries and the oviduct in 52 (4.99%) cases. from these, ovarian adenocarcinoma was found in 14 cases, granulosa cell tumor in 7 cases, theca cell tumor in 1 case and marek's diseas...

Follicle atresia is initiated within the granulosa cell layer of ovarian follicles and is mediated via the process of apoptosis. In the hen, at least two populations of granulosa cells can be distinguished during follicle development on the basis of their inherent susceptibility or resistance to apoptosis, in vitro. Given the previously established correlation between expression of bcl-xLong an...

BACKGROUND Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) play important regulatory roles during folliculogenesis. Theca-derived BMP-4 may be beneficial to in vitro growth culture of early antral follicle-derived oocyte-granulosa cell complexes (OGCs), which is lacking in theca-derived products. METHODS BMP-4 (0 [control], 10 and 50 ng/mL) was added to growth culture medium. Growth, steroidogenesis and t...

Polycystic ovary syndrome is the most common cause of anovulatory infertility. Anovulation in polycystic ovary syndrome is characterized by the failure of selection of a dominant follicle with arrest of follicle development at the 5-10 mm stage. In an attempt to elucidate the mechanism of anovulation associated with this disorder we have investigated at what follicle size human granulosa cells ...

Functional subpopulations of granulosa cells exist in bovine follicles. This study was designed to compare the in vitro steroid production by cultured bovine antral and mural granulosa cells in response to various amounts of FSH. Antral and mural granulosa cells (600,000 viable cells/well) harvested from ovaries of PMSG-treated prepuberal calves were cultured in serum-free conditions for 4 d in...