New research from the University of Adelaide may update the accepted
view of how an ovary is formed.
New research from the University
of Adelaide may update the accepted view of how an ovary is formed.
The study, published recently in
the journal PLOS ONE, also names a new type of cell that plays a
key role in the development of ovaries and ovarian follicles, which are
responsible for the production of eggs in women.
“For more than a decade,
scientists have believed that ovarian follicle cells are derived from the
epithelial cells on the surface of the ovary as it develops,” says research
leader Professor Ray Rodgers, from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson
Institute.
The researchers discovered that a
new cell type – called the GREL (Gonadal Ridge Epithelial-Like) cells – is the
precursor to both the cells on the surface of the ovary and the follicular
cells.
Professor Rodgers says this work
could lead to new insights into a range of conditions, such as premature
ovarian failure, early menopause, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and
ovarian cancer.
“The role of the ovarian follicle
in many of these conditions is very important,” he says. “For example, the PCOS
ovary is associated with an increased number of growing follicles that at some
point just stop working.
“With early menopause, there is a
theory that some women may not have had enough egg-producing ovarian follicles
at development, so once their reserve of follicles has been used up earlier,
menopause sets in.
“Ovarian cancer is a different
story – about 90 percent of ovarian cancers are of an epithelial type. However,
our study has shown us for the first time that when the ovary is first
developing, it doesn’t have an epithelial layer. Why this is, we’re not sure
yet.”
The article can be found
at: Hummitzsch K et al. (2013) A
New Model of Development of the Mammalian Ovary and Follicles.
Source: University of Adelaide;
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