Transient expression of SOX9 protein during follicular development in the adult mouse ovary.
SOX9 is an essential activating transcription factor that plays a critical role in Sertoli cell differentiation and subsequent testis cord formation. Cytoplasmic SOX9 is present in both sexes during early gonadal embryogenesis. While in males the protein is later translocated into the nucleus of pre-Sertoli cells, its expression is rapidly turned off in females. In mammalian male gonads, SOX9 activates the expression of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), a male hormone that initiates Müllerian ducts regression and that is also expressed in postnatal ovarian follicles. Here, we confirm that the SOX9 protein is not present in the immature ovary but also show that SOX9 is transiently expressed in the mature ovary depending on the follicular cycle. Indeed, SOX9 protein was found in the nuclear compartment of the inner cells of the theca interna cell layer which surrounds the pre-antral/antral follicles. In contrast, no expression was detected in the AMH expressing granulosa cells. While these findings exclude the possibility that SOX9 regulates AMH expression in the ovary, they show that SOX9 could nevertheless play a role in the developing follicle.
Department of Differentiation and Development, Institut de Génétique Humaine CNRS UPR1142, Montpellier, France.
Cécile
C
Notarnicola
Safia
S
Malki
Philippe
P
Berta
Francis
F
Poulat
Brigitte
B
Boizet-Bonhoure
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology*; D010053:Ovary / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor; D013799:Theca Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology
D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor; C527933:Sox9 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors