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 the drastic downregulation of Kit and Kitl in Lhx8-/- ovaries. We compared Lhx8-/- and wild-type ovaries using an Affymetrix 430 2.0 microarray platform. A total of 80

SUBMITTER: Choi Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2710541 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature