The two classes of primordial follicles in the mouse ovary: their development, physiological functions and implications for future research.
Ovarian follicles are the basic functional units in the mammalian ovary. This review summarizes early pioneering studies and focuses on recent progress that has shown that there are two distinct classes of primordial follicles in the ovary: the first wave of primordial follicles that are activated immediately after they are formed and the adult primordial follicles that are activated gradually in later life. These two separate classes have been proposed for two decades, but sufficient experimental evidence to support this hypothesis has only been obtained recently using newly developed follicular tracing techniques in genetically modified mouse models. These two follicle populations differ from each other primarily in terms of their developmental dynamics and their contributions to ovarian physiology. It is apparent now that these two follicle populations should be treated separately, and such knowledge will hopefully lead to a more in-depth understanding of how distinct types of primordial follicles contribute to physiologic and pathologic alterations of the mammalian ovary.
Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Wenjing
W
Zheng
Hua
H
Zhang
Kui
K
Liu
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005260:Female; D000074842:Forkhead Box Protein L2; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D012099:Reproductive Techniques / Q000639:trends; D019076:Transgenes; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein
D000074842:Forkhead Box Protein L2; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein; C498893:Foxl2 protein, mouse
Two classes of primordial follicles; follicle development; genetically modified mouse models; mammalian ovary