A 65 year old woman presented with an ovarian mass. Ultrasonography and computed tomography findings, and an increased serum oestrogen concentration were suggestive of an oestrogen producing ovarian tumour. The tumour was removed surgically and weighed 460 g. The pathological diagnosis was adult-type granulosa cell tumour. Strong immunohistochemical staining specific for type IV collagen and la...

An increasing number of studies suggest that ornithine decarboxylase antizyme 1 (OAZ1), which is regarded as a tumor suppressor gene, regulates follicular development, ovulation, and steroidogenesis. The granulosa cells in the ovary play a critical role in these ovarian functions. However, the action of OAZ1 mediating physiological functions of granulosa cells is obscure. OAZ1 knockdown in gran...

Cell cycle progression of granulosa cells is critical for ovarian function, especially follicular maturation. During follicular maturation, FSH induces cyclin D2, which promotes G1 progression by activating cyclin-dependent kinase-4 (Cdk4). Because cyclin D2-deficient mice exhibit a block in follicular growth, cyclin D2/Cdk4 has been hypothesized to be required for FSH-dependent proliferation o...

BACKGROUND Recently, several members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily have been shown to be essential for regulating the growth and differentiation of ovarian follicles and thus fertility. METHODS Ovaries of neonatal and adult sheep were examined for expression of the TGF-betas 1-3 and their receptors (RI and RII) by in situ hybridization using ovine cDNAs. The ef...

AIM To assess the role of mRNA accumulation in granulosa cells as the cause of low ovarian response among FMR1 premutation carriers undergoing pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). DESIGN Case control study in an academic IVF unit. Twenty-one consecutive FMR1 premutation carriers and 15 control women were included. After oocyte retrieval the granulosa cells mRNA levels of FMR1 was measure...

Introduction:Artifical sourace of radiation have increased worldwide average annual exposure of mankind and could especially affect rapidly dividing cells in gonads. Since, radiation sensitivities of different components of primordial follicles, and the time required for their deplation have not been morphologically eatablished we decided to estimate the time required for depletion of primordi...

Targeted disruption of the mouse estrogen receptor-alpha gene (estrogen receptor-alpha knockout; ERKO) results in a highly novel ovarian phenotype in the adult. The ERKO mouse model was used to characterize ER alpha-dependent processes in the ovary. Visualization of the ovaries of 10-, 20-, and 50-day-old wild-type (WT) and ERKO mice showed that the ERKO phenotype developed between 20 and 50 da...

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...

Secreted Slit proteins and their Roundabout (Robo) receptors act as a repulsive cue to prevent axons from migrating to inappropriate locations during the development of the nervous system. Slit/Robo has also been implicated in reproductive system development, but the molecular mechanism of the Slit/Robo pathway in the reproductive system remains poorly understood. Using a transgenic mouse model...