expression of c-jun in human granulosa cells from patients participating in in vitro fertilization programs

background: the mitogen-activated protein kinase (mapk) pathway is one of the major signaling pathways that transmit intracellular signals initiated by extracellular stimuli to the nucleus. the stress-activated protein kinase (sapk)/c-jun nh2-terminal kinase is a subfamily of map kinases implicated in cytokine and stress responses. objective: in this study, we have examined total and phosphorylated c-jun in the mural and cumulus granulosa cells, and investigated also whether c-jun can be responsible for the difference in the expression of apoptosis between mural and cumulus regions. materials and methods: a total of 14 consecutive couples participating in ivf program were investigated. aspirated follicular fluid was transferred into tissue culture dishes and oocyte-cumulus cells complexes were isolated. the cells were centrifuge and fixed with bouin’s solution and then were put on a glass slide. after fixation, the slides were stained by immunocytochemistry method. the incidence of apoptotic granulosa cells was examined by a fluorescence microscope. results: the incidence of apoptotic granulosa cells was 1.27 ± 0.12 in the mural region and 0.38 ± 0.07 in the cumulus regions. all mural and cumulus cells expressed total c-jun in 7 patients while phosphorylated c-jun was also expressed in all cells of the other 7 patients. there was no difference between apoptotic and nonapoptotic cells in the expression of total and phosphorylated c-jun. conclusion: c-jun may not be responsible for apoptotic effect on mural and cumulus cells.