title: Kit ligand decreases the incidence of apoptosis in cultured vitrified whole mouse ovaries.
abstract: To investigate the development of follicles and incidence of apoptosis in vitrified cultured mouse ovaries in the presence and absence of Kit ligand, 1-week-old mouse ovaries were cultured in the presence or absence of Kit ligand for 7 days. Development and function of ovarian follicles was evaluated by histology and hormonal analysis. Apoptosis assessment was conducted by analysis of DNA laddering, TdT (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase)-mediated dUDP nick-end-labelling and caspase-3/7 activity. The proportion of preantral follicles and the level of 17-β oestradiol, progesterone and dehydroepiandrosterone were increased in all cultured groups, and it was significantly higher in Kit ligand treated groups than in the control (P < 0.001). The number of apoptotic signals in both vitrified samples is significantly higher than in the non-vitrified control (P < 0.01), and these signals are significantly lower in both Kit ligand treated groups than in non-Kit ligand treated groups (P < 0.001). The level of caspase-3/7 activity was higher in vitrified cultured ovaries than non-vitrified group (P < 0.01). Kit ligand was shown to improve in-vitro development of follicles, and also acted as an anti-apoptotic factor in vitrified ovaries. The developmental potential of follicles in vitrified groups was lower than that in fresh ovaries.
authors.affiliation: Anatomy Department Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Shabnam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abdi
authors.affiliation: Anatomy Department Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: mogdeh@dr.com.
authors.forename: Mojdeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salehnia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hosseinkhani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D053179:Caspase 7 / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D006080:Ovarian Follicle; D010053:Ovary / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000502:physiology*; D058989:Vitrification
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D053148:Caspase 3; D053179:Caspase 7
keywords: caspase- 3/7; in-vitro culture; kit ligand; vitrification