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Connective tissue growth factor is required for normal follicle development and ovulation.

ABSTRACT: Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a cysteine-rich protein the synthesis and secretion of which are hypothesized to be selectively regulated by activins and other members of the TGF-? superfamily. To investigate the in vivo roles of CTGF in female reproduction, we generated Ctgf ovarian and uterine conditional knockout (cKO) mice. Ctgf cKO mice exhibit severe subfertility and multiple reproductive defects including disrupted follicle development, decreased ovulation rates, increased numbers of corpus luteum, and smaller but functionally normal uterine horns. Steroidogenesis is disrupted in the Ctgf cKO mice, leading to increased levels of serum progesterone. We show that disrupted follicle development is accompanied by a significant increase in granulosa cell apoptosis. Moreover, despite normal cumulus expansion, Ctgf cKO mice exhibit a significant decrease in oocytes ovulated, likely due to impaired ovulatory process. During analyses of mRNA expression, we discovered that Ctgf cKO granulosa cells show gene expression changes similar to our previously reported granulosa cell-specific knockouts of activin and Smad4, the common TGF-? family intracellular signaling protein. We also discovered a significant down-regulation of Adamts1, a progesterone-regulated gene that is critical for the remodeling of extracellular matrix surrounding granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles. These findings demonstrate that CTGF is a downstream mediator in TGF-? and progesterone signaling cascades and is necessary for normal follicle development and ovulation.

SUBMITTER: Nagashima T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3182424 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Connective tissue growth factor is required for normal follicle development and ovulation.

Nagashima Takashi T Kim Jaeyeon J Li Qinglei Q Lydon John P JP DeMayo Francesco J FJ Lyons Karen M KM Matzuk Martin M MM

Molecular endocrinology (Baltimore, Md.) 20110825 10

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a cysteine-rich protein the synthesis and secretion of which are hypothesized to be selectively regulated by activins and other members of the TGF-β superfamily. To investigate the in vivo roles of CTGF in female reproduction, we generated Ctgf ovarian and uterine conditional knockout (cKO) mice. Ctgf cKO mice exhibit severe subfertility and multiple reproductive defects including disrupted follicle development, decreased ovulation rates, increased numbe ...[more]

PMID: 21868453

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Project description:Primordial follicle assembly is a process that occurs in the embryonic or early post natal ovary in which oocyte nests break down to form individual primordial follicles. The size of this initial pool of primordial follicles in part determines the reproductive lifespan of the female. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) was identified as a potential regulatory candidate for this process in a previous microarray analysis of follicle development. The current study examines the effects of CTGF and associated transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFbeta-1) on follicle assembly. Ovaries were removed from newborn rat pups and placed in an organ culture system for two days to measure the effect of these factors on follicle assembly. In addition, ovaries were cultured and treated for ten days to determine the potential of CTGF and TGFbeta-1 to manipulate the primordial follicle pool size over a longer developmental time period. The ovaries treated with CTGF for two days were found to have an increased proportion of assembled follicles. TGFbeta-1 had no effect on primordial follicle assembly and in combination with CTGF decreased oocyte number in the ovary after two days of culture. Over ten days of treatment only the combined treatment of CTGF and TGFbeta-1 was found to cause an increase in the proportion of assembled follicles. Interestingly, treatment with TGFbeta-1 alone resulted in fewer total oocytes in the ovary and decreased the primordial follicle pool size after ten days of culture. Observations indicate that CTGF alone or in combination with TGFbeta-1 stimulates primordial follicle assembly and TGFbeta-1 can decrease the primordial follicle pool size. CTGF was found to regulate the ovarian transcriptome during primordial follicle assembly and an integrative network of genes was identified. CTGF is one of the first growth factors shown to promote primordial follicle assembly, while TGFbeta-1 is one of the first factors shown to decrease the primordial follicle pool size. These observations suggest the possibility of manipulating primordial follicle pool size and influencing female reproductive lifespan. We used microarrays to determine genes expressed differentially between control and CTGF (connective tissue growth factor) treated P0 ovary RNA samples from 3 control groups are compared to 3 CTGF treated ovary groups

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Connective tissue growth factor is required for normal follicle development and ovulation.

Publications

Connective tissue growth factor is required for normal follicle development and ovulation.

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