Project description:Inhibin α knockout (Inha-/-) female mice develop sex cord-stromal ovarian cancer with complete penetrance and previous studies demonstrate that the pituitary gonadotropins [follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH)] are influential modifiers of granulosa cell tumor development and progression in inhibin-deficient females. Recent studies have demonstrated that Inha-/- ovarian follicles develop precociously to the early antral stage in prepubertal mice without any increase in serum FSH and these studies suggested that in the absence of inhibins, granulosa cells differentiate abnormally, and thus at sexual maturity may undergo an abnormal response to gonadotropin signaling. To test this hypothesis, we stimulated immature WT and Inha-/- female mice prior to gross tumor formation with gonadotropin analogs, and subsequently examined post-gonadotropin induced ovarian follicle development, as well as preovulatory and hCG-induced gene expression changes in granulosa cells. We find that at three weeks of age, inhibin-deficient ovaries do not show further antral development nor undergo cumulus expansion. Widespread alterations in the transcriptome of gonadotropin-treated Inha-/- granulosa cells suggest that gonadotropins initiate an improper program of cell differentiation in Inha-/- cells. Overall, our experiments reveal that inhibins are essential for the normal gonadotropin-dependent response of granulosa cells. (2) Genotypes (WT, Inh KO) collected from 2 preovulatory granulosa cells with and without hCG, in triplicate independent samples
Project description:Inhibin α knockout (Inha-/-) female mice develop sex cord-stromal ovarian cancer with complete penetrance and previous studies demonstrate that the pituitary gonadotropins [follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH)] are influential modifiers of granulosa cell tumor development and progression in inhibin-deficient females. Recent studies have demonstrated that Inha-/- ovarian follicles develop precociously to the early antral stage in prepubertal mice without any increase in serum FSH and these studies suggested that in the absence of inhibins, granulosa cells differentiate abnormally, and thus at sexual maturity may undergo an abnormal response to gonadotropin signaling. To test this hypothesis, we stimulated immature WT and Inha-/- female mice prior to gross tumor formation with gonadotropin analogs, and subsequently examined post-gonadotropin induced ovarian follicle development, as well as preovulatory and hCG-induced gene expression changes in granulosa cells. We find that at three weeks of age, inhibin-deficient ovaries do not show further antral development nor undergo cumulus expansion. Widespread alterations in the transcriptome of gonadotropin-treated Inha-/- granulosa cells suggest that gonadotropins initiate an improper program of cell differentiation in Inha-/- cells. Overall, our experiments reveal that inhibins are essential for the normal gonadotropin-dependent response of granulosa cells.
Project description:We investigate the role of Snf2l in ovaries by characterizing a mouse bearing an inactivating deletion on the ATPase domain of Snf2l (Ex6DEL). Snf2l mutant mice produce significantly fewer eggs than control mice when superovulated. Thus, gonadotropin stimulation leads to a significant deficit in secondary follicles and an increase in abnormal antral follicles. We profiled the expression of granulosa cells from Snf2l WT and Ex6DEL mice treated with pregnant mares' serum gonadotropin followed by human chorionic gonadotropin Granulosa cells from either Snf2l WT or Ex6DEL mice treated with PMSG followed by hCG were collected at 0h and 4h post-hCG. Each array includes granulosa cells pooled from 5 mice.
Project description:We investigate the role of Snf2l in ovaries by characterizing a mouse bearing an inactivating deletion on the ATPase domain of Snf2l (Ex6DEL). Snf2l mutant mice produce significantly fewer eggs than control mice when superovulated. Thus, gonadotropin stimulation leads to a significant deficit in secondary follicles and an increase in abnormal antral follicles. We profiled the expression of granulosa cells from Snf2l WT and Ex6DEL mice treated with pregnant mares' serum gonadotropin followed by human chorionic gonadotropin
Project description:Objective: To study the role of estrogen receptor beta in follicle development and maturation and in the response to gonadotropin stimulation aiming at superovulation. Animals: Healthy wild-type and estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) knockout female mice aged 4 weeks, 7 weeks, and 6 months. analysis. Main Outcomes: Oocyte yield after superovulation, transcriptomic profiling of cumulus cells and oocytes and immunohistochemical analyses. Results: Superovulation of ERβ knockout (Esr2-KO) mice results in reduced oocyte yield at 6-months of age compared to wild-type (WT) mice. RNA-seq analysis of cumulus cells from superovulated WT and Esr2-KO mice identified genes and pathways associated with among others adhesion, proliferation, Wnt-signaling, and placed ERβ in bipotential granulosa cell cluster. Loss of ERβ increased expression of the other estrogen receptors Esr1 and Gper1. Conclusion: Our results show that ERβ has an important role in regulating ovulation in response to exogenous gonadotropins in 6-month-old mice, but not in younger mice. Our transcriptomic and immunohistochemical observations suggest a dysregulation of the granulosa cell communication and lack of tight coordination between granulosa cell replication and antrum expansion. A significant upregulation of other estrogen receptors supports a compensatory mechanism sustaining fertility during younger age in Esr2-KO mice.
Project description:Determining the spatial and temporal expression of genes involved in the ovulatory pathway is critical for the understanding of the role of each estrogen receptor in the modulation of folliculogenesis and ovulation. Estrogen receptor (ER) b is highly expressed in ovarian granulosa cells and mice lacking ERb (bERKO) are subfertile due to inefficient ovulation. Previous work has focused on isolated granulosa cells or cultured follicles and while informative, provides confounding results due to the heterogeneous cell types present including granulosa, theca and oocytes and exposure to in vitro conditions. Herein, we isolated preovulatory granulosa cells from WT and ERb-null mice using laser capture microdissection to examine the genomic transcriptional response downstream of PMSG (mimicking FSH) and PMSG/hCG (mimicking LH) stimulation. This allows for a direct comparison of in vivo granulosa cells at the same stage of development from both WT and ERb-null ovaries. ERb-null granulosa cells showed altered expression of genes known to be regulated by FSH (Akap12 and Runx2) as well as not previously reported (Arnt2 and Pou5f1) in WT granulosa cells. Our analysis also identified 304 genes not previously associated with ERb in granulosa cells. LH responsive genes including Abcb1b and Fam110c show reduced expression in ERb-null granulosa cells; however novel genes including Rassf2 and Megf10 were also identified as being downstream of LH signaling in granulosa cells. Collectively, our data suggests that granulosa cells from ERb-null ovaries may not be appropriately differentiated and are unable to respond properly to gonadotropin stimulation We used microarray to compare the gene expression profiles of wiltype (WT) and Erb-null (bERKO) preovulatory granulosa cells as they respond to either PMSG or PMSG+hCG treatments. Laser microdissection was used to collect a purified population of granulosa cells only from preovulatory follicles. We chose to compre the response to PMSG or PMSG+hCG of granulosa cells collected from either WT and bERKO preovulatory follicles. We chose to collect cells 48h after mice were treated with PMSG to compare the gene expression profile ot preovulatory granulosa cells. We also studied the response of these cells to LH (or hCG) as we collected cells 4h after mice were treated with hCG (peak of transcriptional response to hCG).
Project description:Determining the spatial and temporal expression of genes involved in the ovulatory pathway is critical for the understanding of the role of each estrogen receptor in the modulation of folliculogenesis and ovulation. Estrogen receptor (ER) β is highly expressed in ovarian granulosa cells and mice lacking ERβ (βERKO) are subfertile due to inefficient ovulation. Previous work has focused on isolated granulosa cells or cultured follicles and while informative, provides confounding results due to the heterogeneous cell types present including granulosa, theca and oocytes and exposure to in vitro conditions. Herein, we isolated preovulatory granulosa cells from WT and ERβ-null mice using laser capture microdissection to examine the genomic transcriptional response downstream of PMSG (mimicking FSH) and PMSG/hCG (mimicking LH) stimulation. This allows for a direct comparison of in vivo granulosa cells at the same stage of development from both WT and ERβ-null ovaries. ERβ-null granulosa cells showed altered expression of genes known to be regulated by FSH (Akap12 and Runx2) as well as not previously reported (Arnt2 and Pou5f1) in WT granulosa cells. Our analysis also identified 304 genes not previously associated with ERβ in granulosa cells. LH responsive genes including Abcb1b and Fam110c show reduced expression in ERβ-null granulosa cells; however novel genes including Rassf2 and Megf10 were also identified as being downstream of LH signaling in granulosa cells. Collectively, our data suggests that granulosa cells from ERβ-null ovaries may not be appropriately differentiated and are unable to respond properly to gonadotropin stimulation We used microarray to compare the gene expression profiles of wiltype (WT) and Erb-null (bERKO) preovulatory granulosa cells as they respond to either PMSG or PMSG+hCG treatments.
Project description:To investigate the role of circular RNA in the granulosa cells at two different stages of gonadotropin stimulation RNA was isolated from ovarian granulosa cells followed by highthroughput sequencing and circRNA anlaysis