Abstract
Initially the ovarian cords are formed by pre-granulosa somatic cells and oogonia, which are become oocytes at the meiotic S phase. Pre-granulosa-oocyte interactions, through cell contacts and/or by means of paracrine factors, promote oocyte survival. During prefollicular phase the somatic cell death is infrequent, this has been shown in diverse studies involving different animal models. For instance, in sheep pre-granulosa cells present in ovigerous cords do not appear to be affected by apoptosis. However, recent studies demonstrated the expression of Bok, Bcl-X(L), TNF and full length and cleaved caspase-3 in fetal ovaries, with specific patterns in oocytes and in pre-granulosa cells. However, recent studies demonstrated the expression of Bok, Bcl-X(L), TNF and full length and cleaved caspase-3 in fetal ovaries, with specific patterns in oocytes and in pre-granulosa cells. Bok markedly reduces vulnerability to apoptosis, conversely, loss of Bcl-X(L) increases apoptosis. These results suggest important roles for Bok and Bcl-X(L) in human ovarian development.
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Abbreviations
- Smad4:
-
Tumor suppressor gene
- Notch:
-
A receptor protein and the signaling pathway mediated by this protein.
- Wnt:
-
Protein that are secreted as signal molecules
- β-catenin:
-
Protein that functions as cell-cell adhesion and as a gen regulatory protein
- RSPO1:
-
R Spondin 1
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Escobar, M.L., Vázquez-Nin, G.H., Echeverría, O.M. (2011). Prefollicular Cells. In: Cell Death in Mammalian Ovary. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1134-1_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1134-1_10
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