title: Thyroid hormone synergizes with follicle stimulating hormone to inhibit apoptosis in porcine granulosa cells selectively from small follicles.
abstract: To investigate the effect of thyroid hormone on the proliferative activity and apoptosis of granulosa cells at the varying stages of follicular growth, porcine granulosa cells obtained from small (1-2 mm), medium (3-5 mm) and large (6-11 mm) follicles were cultured under a serum-free condition in the presence or absence of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH; 20 ng/ml), with or without triiodothyronine (T3; 10-8M). Relative viability, proliferative activity, and apoptosis of cultured granulosa cells were evaluated with 3-(4.5-dimethylahiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide [MTT] assay, Ki67 expression and activated caspase-3 protein expression, respectively. MTT assay showed that T3 had no significant effect on the relative viability of granulosa cells regardless of the follicle size. Ki67-positive rate in small follicle granulosa cells was augmented by treatment with FSH whereas it was not affected by T3. Furthermore, FSH treatment decreased activated caspase-3 protein-positive rate of small follicle granulosa cells. Relative to the treatment with FSH alone, concomitant treatment with FSH and T3 resulted in further decrease in caspase-3 protein-positive rate in small follicle granulosa cells. Treatment with T3 alone did not affect the caspase-3 protein-positive rate. These results suggest that thyroid hormone synergizes with FSH to inhibit apoptosis in small follicle granulosa cells without affecting the proliferative potential of those cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Saiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asahara
authors.forename: Asomi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Ahmed Ali
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Aljonaid
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maruo
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006107:Granulosa Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013552:Swine; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone