Cystic ovarian disease (COD) is an important cause of abnormal estrous behavior and infertility in dairy cows. COD is mainly observed in high-yielding dairy cows during the first months post-partum, a period of high stress. We have previously reported that, in lower mammals, stress induces a cystic condition similar to the polycystic ovary syndrome in humans and that stress is a definitive comp...

U T E R I N E distention results in shortened estrous cycles in the ewe (Moore and Nalbandov, 1953; Nalbandov et al., 1955; Inskeep et al., 1962), in the bovine (Yamauchi and Nakahara, 1958; Hansel and Wagner, 1960; Yamauchi, 1963; Hawk et al., 1964) and in the guinea pig (Moore, 1961; Donovan and Traczyk, 1960; Bland and Donovan, 1965). The mechanisms involved in the precocious estrus demonstr...

Throughout the animal kingdom the solid ovarian tumors seem to be infrequent, as they also are, relatively, among human tumors. Cystic tumors are described occasionally, but apparently less frequently in the lower animals than in man. Even among dogs, with their high incidence of tumor growth, ovarian tumors are rare according to the evidence furnished by literature dealing with canine neoplasm...

Blastocyst complementation (BC) systems have enabled in vivo generation of organs from allogeneic pluripotent cells, compensating for an empty germ cell niche in gene knockout (KO) animals. Here, we succeeded in producing chimeric beef cattle (Wagyu) by transferring allogenic germ cells into ovaries using somatic cell nuclear transfer and BC technology. The KO of NANOS3 (NANOS3(-/-)) in Wagyu b...

Growth factor signalling has important modulatory roles in the process of human follicular growth, oocyte maturation and corpus luteum (CL) formation. Recently, Sprouty-2, an inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signalling pathway was advocated as a marker of oocyte competence in the bovine ovary. We sought to study Sprouty-2 expression and regulation in the human ovary. RT-PCR was used ...

Ovarian follicular granulosa cells surround and nurture oocytes, and produce sex steroid hormones. It is believed that during development the ovarian surface epithelial cells penetrate into the ovary and develop into granulosa cells when associating with oogonia to form follicles. Using bovine fetal ovaries (n = 80) we identified a novel cell type, termed GREL for Gonadal Ridge Epithelial-Like....

INTRODUCTION During mammalian ovarian organogenesis, the massive loss of oogonia via apoptosis is attenuated by the association of germ cells with somatic mesoepithelial cells of the gonadal ridge to form primordial follicles. It is suspected that the germ cell actively participates in this process via the production of local regulatory factors. Growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9), a member...