title: The Effect of Fibroblast Co-culture on In Vitro Maturation of Mouse Preantral Follicles.
abstract: This study was performed to evaluate the effects of fibroblast co-culture on in vitro maturation (IVM) of prepubertal mouse preantral follicles. The intact preantral follicles were obtained from the ovaries of 12-14 day old mice and these were cultured individually in α-minimal essential medium (α-MEM) supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 100 mIU/Ml recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (rFSH), 1% insulin-transferrin-selenium, 100 μg/ml penicillin and 50 μg/Ml streptomycin as base medium for 12 days. A total of 200 follicles were cultured in base medium co-cultured with mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) (MEF group) (n=100) or only base medium as control group (n=100). Survival rate of follicles on day 12 of culture were significantly higher in the MEF group of 90.0%, compared with 77.0% of the control group (p=0.021). Follicle diameters on day 6 and 8 of the culture period were significantly larger in the MEF group than those in the control group (p=0.021, p=0.007, respectively). Estradiol levels in culture media on day 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 of the culture period were significantly higher in the MEF group (p=0.043, p=0.021, p=0.006, p<0.001 and p=0.008, retrospectively). Our data suggest that MEF cell co-culture on IVM of mouse preantral follicle increases survival rate and promotes follicular growth and steroid production.
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chung-Hoon
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Development and Physiology, Department of Biology, Institute for Basic Science, Sungshin Women's University, Seoul 136-742, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Pil
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: You-Jeong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hee-Dong
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Chae
authors.affiliation: Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Moon
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kang
keywords: Co-culture; In vitro maturation; Mouse embryonic fibroblast.; Mouse preantral follicles