TY - JOUR
T1 - Germline stem cells and neo-oogenesis in the adult human ovary
AU - Liu, Yifei
AU - Wu, Chao
AU - Lyu, Qifeng
AU - Yang, Dongzi
AU - Albertini, David F.
AU - Keefe, David L.
AU - Liu, Lin
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Kai Deng, Qingxue Zhang and Xueqing Wu for help with collection of ovarian samples, and Ellen Barnes and Zhisheng Chen for helpful discussion. This study was supported by the Ministry of Health of China, China National Natural Science Foundation, and the Kaisi Scholarship Foundation of Sun Yat-Sen University.
PY - 2007/6/1
Y1 - 2007/6/1
N2 - It remains unclear whether neo-oogenesis occurs in postnatal ovaries of mammals, based on studies in mice. We thought to test whether adult human ovaries contain germline stem cells (GSCs) and undergo neo-oogenesis. Rather than using genetic manipulation which is unethical in humans, we took the approach of analyzing the expression of meiotic marker genes and genes for germ cell proliferation, which are required for neo-oogenesis, in adult human ovaries covering an age range from 28 to 53 years old, compared to testis and fetal ovaries served as positive controls. We show that active meiosis, neo-oogenesis and GSCs are unlikely to exist in normal, adult, human ovaries. No early meiotic-specific or oogenesis-associated mRNAs for SPO11, PRDM9, SCP1, TERT and NOBOX were detectable in adult human ovaries using RT-PCR, compared to fetal ovary and adult testis controls. These findings are further corroborated by the absence of early meiocytes and proliferating germ cells in adult human ovarian cortex probed with markers for meiosis (SCP3), oogonium (OCT3/4, c-KIT), and cell cycle progression (Ki-67, PCNA), in contrast to fetal ovary controls. If postnatal oogenesis is confirmed in mice, then this species would represent an exception to the rule that neo-oogenesis does not occur in adults.
AB - It remains unclear whether neo-oogenesis occurs in postnatal ovaries of mammals, based on studies in mice. We thought to test whether adult human ovaries contain germline stem cells (GSCs) and undergo neo-oogenesis. Rather than using genetic manipulation which is unethical in humans, we took the approach of analyzing the expression of meiotic marker genes and genes for germ cell proliferation, which are required for neo-oogenesis, in adult human ovaries covering an age range from 28 to 53 years old, compared to testis and fetal ovaries served as positive controls. We show that active meiosis, neo-oogenesis and GSCs are unlikely to exist in normal, adult, human ovaries. No early meiotic-specific or oogenesis-associated mRNAs for SPO11, PRDM9, SCP1, TERT and NOBOX were detectable in adult human ovaries using RT-PCR, compared to fetal ovary and adult testis controls. These findings are further corroborated by the absence of early meiocytes and proliferating germ cells in adult human ovarian cortex probed with markers for meiosis (SCP3), oogonium (OCT3/4, c-KIT), and cell cycle progression (Ki-67, PCNA), in contrast to fetal ovary controls. If postnatal oogenesis is confirmed in mice, then this species would represent an exception to the rule that neo-oogenesis does not occur in adults.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ydbio.2007.03.006
DO - 10.1016/j.ydbio.2007.03.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 17428461
AN - SCOPUS:34247515030
SN - 0012-1606
VL - 306
SP - 112
EP - 120
JO - Developmental biology
JF - Developmental biology
IS - 1
ER -