BACKGROUND During the female reproductive cycle, follicular development and corpus luteum formation crucially depend on the fast generation of new blood vessels. The importance of granulosa cells and follicular fluid in controlling this angiogenesis is still not completely understood. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) produced by granulosa cells and secreted into the follicular fluid pl...

Previous studies have implicated transcription factors GATA-4 and GATA-6 in the regulation of murine ovarian development and function. In rodents, GATA-4 is expressed in granulosa cells of primary and early antral follicles, whereas GATA-6 is expressed in granulosa cells of late antral follicles and luteal glands. Both transcription factors can be detected in lesser amounts in theca cells and i...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional characteristics of granulosa cell populations of individual follicles of women undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) for IVF/ICSI in whom gonadotrophin had been withheld ('coasted') for the prevention of OHSS. METHODS Follicular fluid and granulosa cells were isolated from 224 individual follicles in 41 women who had be...

Mammalian oocytes grow within ovarian follicles in which the oocyte is coupled to surrounding granulosa cells by gap junctions. We report here that growing oocytes isolated from mouse preantral follicles are incapable of recovering from an experimentally induced acidosis, and that oocytes acquire the ability to manage acid loads by activating Na(+)/H(+) exchange during growth. By contrast, gran...

The bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) has been implicated in follicle growth and steroidogenic functions of the ovary. The BMP-2 belongs to the BMPs subfamily of TGF-β super family. The present study was carried out in sheep granulosa cell culture to study the effect of different doses of BMP-2 0ng/ml (control group), 30ng/ml, 50ng/ml and 100ng/ml on granulosa cell steriodogenic function. Fo...

Leptin, a recently-discovered hormonal product of the obese gene, circulates in the blood at levels paralleling those of fat reserves and regulates satiety and improves reproductive performance if injected into mice lacking circulating leptin. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that leptin signals metabolic information to the reproductive system by directly affecting granulosa cell function. D...

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 ...

Vitamin D3 is a fat-soluble secosteroid responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, and other materials. Vitamin D3 deficiency, therefore, can cause health problems such as metabolic diseases, and bone disorder. Female sex hormones including estrogen and progesterone are biosynthesized mainly in the granulosa cells of ovary. In this study, we isolated granulosa cells from ...

FoxO1 is a transcription factor implicated in a growing number of physiological processes, including apoptosis, cell cycle progression, and insulin signaling. Recent findings indicate that FSH and growth factors influence ovarian functions in part through regulation of FoxO1. The present study utilized immunohistochemical analysis to determine the ovarian localization and regulation of FoxO1 pr...

The association of secreted frizzled related protein type 4 (Sfrp4) as an antagonist of Wnt mole-cules in apoptotic events has been reported previously. Moreover, its increased expression has been reported in the ovary of women with polycystic ovary (PCO). We have demonstrated in-creased Sfrp4 in PCO-induced rat ovary related to an increased number of apoptotic follicles showing nuclear ?cateni...