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Cover: From or Partial Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Receptor Deficiency in Miec by Yinzhi Yang, Agneta Balla, Natalia Danilovich, and M. Ram Sairam (Biol Reprod 2003; 69: 1294-1302 Bidirectional interaction/communication between the oocyte and surrounding granulosa cells promotes optional follicular development. The normal oocyte at various stages of its development in a healthy follicle is a perfectly rounded structure with the zona pellucida being present in the perivitelline space between the plasma membrane of the oocytes and the layer of surrounding GCs. The GCs are dependent on follitropin receptor (FSH-R) signaling for their growth and function. In mutant female mice (FORKO) lacking this receptor, aberrations appear in both the GCs and oocytes as folliculogenesis and oogenesis are impaired in an age and gene dosage dependent manner. The panels show examples that are typical of alterations observed in FSHR mutant ovaries at 3 months. In the top left panel, at comparable stages of follicles, the oocyte in the +/+ is smooth and rounded with evenly distributed zona pellucida. Aberrations appear in some +/- follicles (top center) where oocyte shape irregularity starts. The oocyte in a FORKO ovary is not round and the zona is uneven (top right). Other types of irregularities seen in the bottom panels include two oocytes in a single +/- follicle (bottom left) at the secondary or preantral stages with degenerating GCs, zona discontinuity and patchy structures allowing infiltration of loose GCs into the oocyte (bottom center) and premature abnormal oocyte development in null mutants (bottom right). In absence of FSH-R signaling, important changes are seen in several molecular makers in both follicular compartments.
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