The FSH-HIF-1 α-VEGF pathway is critical for ovulation and oocyte health but not necessary for follicular growth in mice.

The FSH-HIF-1α-VEGF pathway is critical for ovulation and oocyte health but not necessary for follicular growth in mice. Endocrinology. 2020 Mar 06;: Authors: Li C, Liu Z, Li W, Zhang L, Zhou J, Sun M, Zhou J, Yao W, Zhang X, Wang H, Tao J, Shen M, Liu H Abstract Recent evidence has indicated that follicular vascularization is critical to ovarian follicle development and survival. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), a gonadotropin that induces follicular growth and development, also acts as the major survival factor for antral follicles. FSH has been reported to stimulate angiogenesis in the theca layers mediated in part by the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and the transcription factor hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α). However, it remains largely undetermined whether FSH-dependent growth and survival of antral follicles relies on FSH-induced vascularization. Here, we first demonstrated that induction of angiogenesis through the FSH-HIF-1α-VEGFA axis is not required for FSH-stimulated follicular growth in mouse ovary. FSH increased the total number of blood vessels in mouse ovarian follicles, which was correlated with elevated expression of VEGFA and HIF-1α in granulosa cells (GCs). In contrast, blocking of follicular angiogenesis using inhibitors against the HIF-1α-VEGFA pathway repressed vasculature formation in follicles despite FSH administration. Interestingly, by measuring follicular size and ovarian wei...
Source: Endocrinology - Category: Endocrinology Authors: Tags: Endocrinology Source Type: research