The cytologic localization and cellular levels of TGF alpha in the human ovary during follicular growth and regression were examined by avidin/biotin immunoperoxidase techniques with a monoclonal antibody to TGF alpha. In primordial follicles, only the oocyte showed intense immunostaining for TGF alpha, whereas the flattened pregranulosa cells were negative for the immunostaining. The earliest ...

A 50 p. 100 restriction of food intake in female Wistar rats from day 21 to day 42 of life prevented ovulation and altered the size distribution and numbers of ovarian follicles. The rate of atresia of non-growing oocytes in primordial follicles was retarded resulting in more oocytes per ovary. The number of follicles initiated to grow was reduced. Semi-starved rats allowed free access to food ...

Background Fertility preservation is an important part of scientific study in the field of reproductive medicine. Ovarian cryopreservation and in vitro follicles culture provide option for fertility conservation in older women or cancer patients. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or FGF-2, is member of fibroblast growth factors family which play critical roles in cell migration proliferatio...

In mammals, oocytes within the primordial follicles require a number of essential factors tomaintain their survival. However, the survival factors for activated oocytes have been poorly characterized. Recently we reported that damaged DNA binding protein-1 (DDB1), the linker subunit of the cullin ring-finger ubiquitin E3 ligase-4 (CRL4) complex, and its substrate adaptor,DDB1-CUL4 associated fa...

BACKGROUND Primordial follicular depletion has thought to be a common adverse effect of chemotherapy especially for female of reproductive age. The study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of rapamycin on the primordial follicles and its potential mechanism for patients receiving chemotherapy. METHODS 8-week old BALB/c female mice were randomly assigned into four groups (control; rapamyc...

BACKGROUND Cryopreservation and transplantation of ovarian tissue is one option for re-establishing ovarian function, but optimal conditions for graft sustainment and follicular survival are still considered experimental. The present study aims to analyze the effect of FSH treatment on the resting follicle pool in fresh and cryopreserved primate ovarian tissues following xenografting. METHODS...

The South American fur seal reproductive histophysiology is scarcely described. This study provides a histological description of prepuberal South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) ovaries as well as three-dimensional reconstructions of subcapsular crypts and primordial follicles. Ovaries from fresh dead animals were processed for histology and sliced into serial sections. A portion o...

Primordial follicle formation represents a critical phase of the initiation of embryonic reproductive organ development, while the primordial follicle transition into primary follicle determines whether oestrus or ovulation will occur in female animals. To identify molecular mechanism of new proteins which are involved in ovarian development, we employed 2D-DIGE to compare the protein expressio...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of supplementing vitrification and warming solutions with two types of antifreeze proteins (AFPs) and the combination thereof on the follicular integrity of vitrified-warmed mouse ovaries. METHODS Ovaries (n=154) were obtained from 5-week-old BDF1 female mice (n=77) and vitrified using ethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide with the su...

Although microRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in fine-tuning gene networks, the roles of mmu-mir-143 (miR-143) in mammalian ovary development have not been studied in vitro. We investigated the expression and function of miR-143 in the mouse ovary during primordial follicle formation. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that miR-143 expression increased during primordial foll...