title: Increased expression of the FIGLA transcription factor is associated with primordial follicle formation in the human fetal ovary.
abstract: The process of primordial follicle formation is central to the determination of a woman's reproductive lifespan, and in humans occurs towards the end of mid-gestation. Gene knockout analysis in the mouse has shown that Figla, a transcription factor specifically expressed in germ cells, is essential for oocytes to survive and form primordial follicles. Our objective was to investigate whether a human homologue present in the genome database plays a similar role in human ovary development. Standard and real-time RT-PCR demonstrated that the human FIGLA gene is expressed in the fetal ovary but not by a range of other tissues, and that expression increases across mid-gestation, rising some 40-fold by the time of primordial follicle formation. The entire coding sequence was cloned and new exonic sequences identified. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays with in vitro-expressed human FIGLA protein showed that, as in the mouse, FIGLA can heterodimerize with E12 protein and bind to the E-box of the human ZP2 promoter. Similar mobility shifts were identified in human fetal ovary extracts. These results suggest that FIGLA is involved in continued oocyte survival as primordial follicles form in the human as in the rodent ovary.
authors.affiliation: MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, Centre for Reproductive Biology, University of Edinburgh Chancellor's Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK. r.bayne@hrsu.mrc.ac.uk
authors.forename: Rosemary A L
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bayne
authors.forename: Sarah J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Martins da Silva
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019281:Dimerization; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D010053:Ovary / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors; D013737:Testis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014020:Tissue Extracts; D058125:Transcription Factor 7-Like 1 Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors; C544912:TCF7L1 protein, human; C544913:Tcf7l1 protein, mouse; D014020:Tissue Extracts; D058125:Transcription Factor 7-Like 1 Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors