| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ovary |
Department of Animal Science and Production and the Centre for Integrative Biology,3 Conway Institute for Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
Department of Animal Science and Center for Animal Functional Genomics,4 Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
We hypothesize that granulosa and theca cells from growing dominant follicles, with relatively high intrafollicular concentrations of estradiol, have a greater expression of genes involved in inhibiting apoptosis pathways and lower expression of genes involved in apoptosis pathways than growing subordinate follicles with lower estradiol concentrations. Using the well-characterized bovine dominant follicle model, we collected granulosa and theca cells from individual dominant and the largest subordinate follicle 3 days after initiation of a follicular wave in four animals. Based on ultrasound analysis, both follicle types were in the growth phase at the time of ovariectomy. However, dominant follicles were larger (9.8 ± 1.0 versus 7.6 ± 0.6 mm in diameter, P < 0.05) and had greater intrafollicular concentrations of estradiol (132.2 ±3 8.5 versus 24.1 ± 12.1 ng/ml, P < 0.05), compared with the largest subordinate follicles. We used bovine cDNA microarrays, which contained a total of 1400 genes, including a subset of 53 genes known to be involved in apoptosis pathways, to determine which apoptosis and marker genes from each of the four dominant versus subordinate follicles were potentially differentially expressed. Using a low stringency-screening criterion, 22 genes were identified. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction confirmed that 16 of these genes were differentially expressed. Our novel results demonstrate that the high intrafollicular concentrations of estradiol in growing dominant follicles were positively associated with enhanced expression of mRNAs in granulosa cells for aromatase, LH receptor, estradiol receptor ß, DICE-1, and MCL-1, compared with granulosa cells from subordinate follicles (all survival-associated genes). In contrast, the relatively low intrafollicular concentrations of estradiol in growing subordinate follicles were positively associated with enhanced expression of mRNAs in granulosa cells for ß glycan, cyclo-oxygenase-1, tumor necrosis factor 
, caspase-activated DNase, and DRAK-2, and in theca cells for ß glycan, caspase 13, P58(IPK), Apaf-1, BTG-3, and TS-BCLL, compared with granulosa or theca cells from dominant follicles (genes that are all associated with cell death and/or apoptosis). We suggest that that these genes may be candidate estradiol target genes and that they may be early markers for the final stages of follicle differentiation or initiation of apoptosis and thus selection of dominant follicles during follicular waves.
2 Correspondence: A.C.O. Evans, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. FAX: 353 1 716 1103; alex.evans{at}ucd.ie
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  N. Forde, M. Mihm, M. J. Canty, A. E. Zielak, P. J. Baker, S. Park, P. Lonergan, G. W. Smith, P. M. Coussens, J. J. Ireland, et al. Differential expression of signal transduction factors in ovarian follicle development: a functional role for betaglycan and FIBP in granulosa cells in cattle Physiol Genomics, April 21, 2008; 33(2): 193 - 204. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M Mihm, P J Baker, L M Fleming, A M Monteiro, and P J O'Shaughnessy Differentiation of the bovine dominant follicle from the cohort upregulates mRNA expression for new tissue development genes Reproduction, February 1, 2008; 135(2): 253 - 265. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Sen, A. Bettegowda, F. Jimenez-Krassel, J. J. Ireland, and G. W. Smith Cocaine- and Amphetamine-Regulated Transcript Regulation of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Signal Transduction in Bovine Granulosa Cells Endocrinology, September 1, 2007; 148(9): 4400 - 4410. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K E Ryan, S M Casey, M J Canty, M A Crowe, F Martin, and A C O Evans Akt and Erk signal transduction pathways are early markers of differentiation in dominant and subordinate ovarian follicles in cattle Reproduction, March 1, 2007; 133(3): 617 - 626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. W. Smith and G. J. M. Rosa Interpretation of microarray data: Trudging out of the abyss towards elucidation of biological significance J Anim Sci, March 1, 2007; 85(13_suppl): E20 - E23. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. M. Han, T. H. Lee, J. Y. Mun, M. J. Kim, E. A. Kritikou, S.-J. Lee, S. S. Han, M. O. Hengartner, and H.-S. Koo Deleted in cancer 1 (DICE1) is an essential protein controlling the topology of the inner mitochondrial membrane in C. elegans Development, September 15, 2006; 133(18): 3597 - 3606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M A Beg and O J Ginther Follicle selection in cattle and horses: role of intrafollicular factors. Reproduction, September 1, 2006; 132(3): 365 - 377. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Mihm, P.J. Baker, J.L.H. Ireland, G.W. Smith, P.M. Coussens, A.C.O. Evans, and J.J. Ireland Molecular Evidence That Growth of Dominant Follicles Involves a Reduction in Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Dependence and an Increase in Luteinizing Hormone Dependence in Cattle Biol Reprod, June 1, 2006; 74(6): 1051 - 1059. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D Corcoran, T Fair, S Park, D Rizos, O V Patel, G W Smith, P M Coussens, J J Ireland, M P Boland, A C O Evans, et al. Suppressed expression of genes involved in transcription and translation in in vitro compared with in vivo cultured bovine embryos. Reproduction, April 1, 2006; 131(4): 651 - 660. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
