A method is presented to quantitatively score the degree of ovarian maturation in a predacious pentatomid with asynchronous follicle development. The effects of artiÞcial diet and mating status on ovarian maturation rates were examined. Ovarian scores were not inßuenced by mating status but were signiÞcantly lower in females fed the artiÞcial diet. Ovarian follicles start forming when females a...

Introduction: Oocyte quality and fertility decline with advanced maternal age. During maturation within the ovarian follicle, oocyte relies on associated somatic cells, specifically cumulus granulosa to acquire essential components for developmental capacity. Methods: A nontargeted metabolomics approach was used investigate effects of mare age different cell types dominant, follicular-phase fol...

Ovarian follicle maturation (OFM), including the resumption of meiosis in oocyte, is under hormonal regulation. Insulin-like growth factors (IGF) have been shown to participate regulation OFM with species-specific actions teleost fishes. In present study, vitro treatment rainbow trout ovarian follicles recombinant human insulin-like factor-1 (rhIGF1) or rhIGF2 did not induce germinal vesicle br...

The molecular properties and roles of luteinizing hormone (Lh) and its receptor (Lhcgrbb) have not been studied for the medaka (Oryzias latipes), which is an excellent animal model for ovulation studies. Here, we characterized the medaka Lh/Lhcgrbb system, with attention to its involvement in the ovulatory process of this teleost fish. In the medaka ovary, follicle-stimulating hormone receptor ...

We have developed an assay that can detect relative changes in the amount of a non-cAMP inhibitor of maturation present in cumulus cells (Eppig et al., 1983, Dev. Biol., 100:39-49). Using this assay in which accelerated maturation of a group of treated cumulus cell-oocyte complexes relative to untreated complexes indicates a decrease in the amount of inhibitor, results of the experiments descri...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the possible influence of follicular maturation and luteinization on anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) secretion and the relationship between per-follicle AMH levels, ovarian follicular status, and responsiveness to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH). DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING University hospital in France. PATIENT(S) Thirty seven in vitro fertilization/...

An option for fertility preservation for women facing a cancer diagnosis involves the cryopreservation of ovarian tissue for later re-transplantation or in vitro culture, with in vitro culture preferred to avoid reintroduction of the cancer. Small, immature follicles survive the freeze-thaw process, and can be matured through in follicle maturation (IFM) that involves an initial growth of the f...

Follicle rupture, the final step in ovulation, utilizes conserved molecular mechanisms including matrix metalloproteinases (Mmps), steroid signaling, and adrenergic signaling. It is still unknown how follicles become competent for follicle rupture/ovulation. Here, we identify a zinc-finger transcription factor Hindsight (Hnt) as the first transcription factor regulating follicle's competency fo...

In vitro follicle growth is a potential approach to preserve fertility for young women who are facing a risk of premature ovarian failure (POF) caused by radiation or chemotherapy. Our two-step follicle culture strategy recapitulated the dynamic human follicle growth environment in vitro. Follicles developed from the preantral to antral stage, and, for the first time, produced meiotically compe...