The ovarian follicle has a three-dimensional (3D) structure in which the oocyte is surrounded by tightly connected follicle cells that mediate the action of external signals and nourish the gamete during its maturation. Thus, the maintenance of follicle organization during the whole growth process is crucial for the correct acquisition of developmental competence. In recent years, much attentio...

The occurrence of more than two ova from the same follicle (polyovular follicle) in humans has been observed. In this case report there was a high frequency of conjoined oocytes retrieved with individual zona pellucida (40% of oocytes retrieved, 4.3% of mature follicles) from women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). We may have to be more aware of the risk of multiple pregnancies in inferti...

Porokeratotic eccrine and hair follicle nevus is a very rare non-hereditary disorder of keratinization with eccrine and hair follicle involvement with only 9 cases described in the literature. In 2009 the term porokeratotic anexial ostial nevus was proposed to comprehend porokeratotic eccrine and hair follicle nevus and a related and more common process without follicular involvement: porokerat...

introduction: among the endocrine diseases, hypothyroidism is the commonest after diabetes.thyroid hormones (t3,t4) are essential for genital organs function. apoptosis process in ovarian cells plays a significant role of development in ovarian follicles. the aim of the present study was determine the apoptotic index induced by hypothyroidism in rat ovarian follicles. materials and methods: in ...

Stem cells are vital for the homeostasis of self-renewing tissues such as the hair follicle. Epithelial stem cells have been implicated in tumorigenesis and wound healing, and their manipulation may have wide ranging applications including gene therapy and tissue transplantation. Rodent hair follicle stem cells have been localized to an area of the follicle called the bulge, however, the identi...

With increasing numbers of young female cancer survivors following chemotherapy, chemotherapy-induced fertility loss must be considered. Menstrual disorder and infertility are of particular concern in female cancer patients. We showed that treatment with the alkylating agent cyclophosphamide (CTX) could cause severe primordial follicle loss and growing follicle apoptosis, resulting in loss of o...

BACKGROUND Chronic stress affects the course of inflammatory bowel disease and experimental colitis, and may also initiate intestinal inflammation in rats. AIM To investigate the effects of stress on the M cell containing follicle associated epithelium, specialised in antigen uptake. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Wistar rats were submitted to acute water avoidance stress for one hour or chronic wate...

The mechanism by which one or more dominant ovarian follicles continue development while other subordinate follicles regress is not known. The mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are a group of kinases that are activated by hormonal factors and form a cascade of processes that regulate cell growth, division and differentiation. The aim of the present experiment was to characterise the pre...

Ovarian follicles form through a process in which somatic pregranulosa cells encapsulate individual germ cells from germ cell syncytia. Complementary expression of the Notch ligand, Jagged1, in germ cells and the Notch receptor, Notch2, in pregranulosa cells suggests a role for Notch signaling in mediating cellular interactions during follicle assembly. Using a Notch reporter mouse, we demonstr...

The perianth persists after flowering in many plants, yet its post-floral functionality has been little investigated, and the few studies available provide ambiguous evidence. This paper tests the hypothesis that the green persistent sepals of the perennial herb, Helleborus foetidus, contribute to the plant's fitness by enhancing seed number and/or size. Post-floral contribution of the calyx to...