Dynamic expression patterns of Irx3 and Irx5 during germline nest breakdown and primordial follicle formation promote follicle survival in mouse ovaries.

ABSTRACT: Women and other mammalian females are born with a finite supply of oocytes that determine their reproductive lifespan. During fetal development, individual oocytes are enclosed by a protective layer of granulosa cells to form primordial follicles that will grow, mature, and eventually release the oocyte for potential fertilization. Despite the knowledge that follicles are dysfunctional and will die without granulosa cell-oocyte interactions, the mechanisms by which these cells establish communication is unknown. We previously identified that two members of the Iroquois homeobox transcription factor gene family, Irx3 and Irx5, are expressed within developing ovaries but not testes. Deletion of both factors (Irx3-Irx5EGFP/Irx3-Irx5EGFP) disrupted granulosa cell-oocyte contact during early fo

SUBMITTER: Fu A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6071956 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature