Lim Homeobox Gene, LHX8, Is Essential for Mouse Oocyte Differentiation and Survival

ABSTRACT: Lhx8 is a member of the LIM-homeobox transcription factor family and preferentially expressed in oocytes and germ cells within the mouse ovary. We discovered that Lhx8 knockout females lose oocytes within 7 days after birth. At the time of birth, histological examination shows that Lhx8 deficient (Lhx8(-/-)) ovaries are grossly similar to the newborn wild type ovaries. Lhx8(-/-) ovaries fail to maintain the primordial follicles and the transition from primordial to growing follicles does not occur. Lhx8(-/-) ovaries misexpress oocyte-specific genes such as Gdf9, Pou5f1, and Nobox. Very rapid loss of oocytes may partly be due to drastic the down-regulation of Kit and Kitl in Lhx8(-/-) ovaries. We compared Lhx8(-/-) and wild-type ovaries using Affymetrix 430 2.0 microarray platform. Eighty (

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

SUBMITTER: Aleksandar Rajkovic 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-11897 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress