Primate Follicular Development and Oocyte Maturation In Vitro

Xu, Jing; Xu, Min; Bernuci, Marcelo Picinin; Fisher, Thomas E.; Shea, Lonnie D.; Woodruff, Teresa K.; Zelinski, Mary B.; Stouffer, Richard L.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-8214-7_5

Cited by 47 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…As recently demonstrated in mice 34 , pre-antral follicles have also been cultured in homogeneous 3D hydrogel of alginate. This technique has now been applied to many species including nonhuman primates 35,36 and women 37,38 . In mice, an interpenetrating network of alginate and fibrin has been shown to be a better system than that of pure alginate because the degradation of fibrin over time allows the expansion of the growing pre-antral follicles during culture with reduced resistance 39–42 , which mimics the soft medullary region in the ovary 43,44 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic Encapsulation of Ovarian Follicles for 3D Culture

2017

Ann Biomed Eng

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The ovarian follicle that contains one single oocyte is the fundamental functional tissue unit of mammalian ovary. Therefore, isolation and in vitro culture of ovarian follicles to obtain fertilizable oocytes are regarded as a promising strategy for women to combat infertility. In this communication, we performed a brief survey of studies on microfluidic encapsulation of ovarian follicles in core-shell hydrogel microcapsules for biomimetic 3D culture. These studies highlighted that recapitulation of the mechanical heterogeneity of the extracellular matrix in ovary is crucial for in vitro culture to develop early pre-antral follicles to the antral stage, and for the release of cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) from antral follicles in vitro. The hydrogel encapsulation-based culture system and the microfluidic technology may be invaluable to facilitate follicle culture as a viable option for restoring women’s fertility in the clinic.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic Encapsulation of Ovarian Follicles for 3D Culture

2017

Ann Biomed Eng

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“…In addition to ovulation, studies of hormone production require more than cell culture approaches. Patterns of follicular-phase hormone synthesis have been described in 3D follicle culture systems (Picton and Gosden 2000;Xu et al, 2006bXu et al, , 2011bXu et al, , 2013bKedem et al, 2011;Sanchez et al, 2012;Telfer and Zelinski, 2013), while in vitro investigations of luteinization have remained in 2D primary cell cultures (Oonk et al, 1989;Meidan et al, 1990;Engelhardt et al, 1991). Although much has been learned from these studies, granulosa or theca cells luteinized in vitro differ from those luteinized in vivo.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engineering the ovarian cycle using in vitro follicle culture

et al. 2015

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study question: Can cultured follicles model the ovarian cycle, including follicular-and luteal-phase hormone synthesis patterns and ovulation?summary answer: Under gonadotrophin stimulation, murine follicles grown in an encapsulated three-dimensional system ovulate in vitro and murine and human follicle hormone synthesis mimics follicular and luteal phases expected in vivo.what is known already: Studies of the human ovary and follicle function are limited by the availability of human tissue and lack of in vitro models. We developed an encapsulated in vitro follicle growth (eIVFG) culture system, which preserves 3D follicular structure. Thus far, the alginate system has supported the culture of follicles from mice, dog, rhesus macaque, baboon and human. These studies have shown that cultured follicles synthesize steroid hormones similar to those observed during the follicular phase in vivo. study design, size, duration: Cultured murine follicles were treated with human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) and either assayed for luteinization or removed from alginate beads and assayed for ovulation. Human follicles were also cultured, treated with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), hCG and EGF to mimic gonadotrophin changes throughout the ovarian cycle, and culture medium was assayed for hormone production.participants/materials, setting, methods: Murine and human follicles were cultured in alginate hydrogel and hormone production [17b-estradiol, progesterone, inhibin A, inhibin B, activin A and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH)] was quantified in medium by enzyme-linked immuno assay (ELISA). Human ovarian tissue was acquired from females between 6 and 34 years of age with a cancer diagnosis. These participants were undergoing ovarian tissue cryopreservation at National Physicians Cooperative sites as part of the Oncofertility Consortium.main results and the role of chance: When grown in this system, 96% of mouse follicles ovulated in response to hCG and released meiotically competent eggs. Ovulated follicles recapitulated transcriptional, morphologic and hormone synthesis patterns post-luteinizing hormone (LH/hCG). In addition to rodent follicles, individual human follicles secreted steroid and peptide hormones that mimicked the patterns of serum hormones observed during the menstrual cycle.limitations, reasons for caution: This was a descriptive study of an in vitro model of ovulation and the ovarian hormone cycle.The ovulation studies were limited to murine tissue and further studies are needed to optimize conditions using other species.wider implications of the findings: The eIVFG system reliably phenocopies the in vivo ovarian cycle and provides a new tool to study human follicle biology and the influence of cycling female hormones on other tissue systems in vitro. study funding/competing interest(s): This work was supported by NIH U54 HD041857, NIH U54 HD076188, NIH UH2 E5022920, NIH UH3 TR001207 and F30 AG040916 (R.M.S.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and do...

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“…In contrast, AMH, a member of the TGF-b superfamily, inhibits primordial follicle activation, leading to accumulation of these follicles and to a decrease in the number of follicles of other stages (Nilsson et al, 2007;Weenen et al, 2004). AMH has been shown to stimulate VEGF synthesis in cultured secondary follicles from nonhuman primates (Xu et al, 2013). To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated a possible regulation of AMH on other angiogenic factors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%