Abstract

BackgroundExisting dogma that a female is born with fixed number of eggs was challenged by the detection of stem cells in adult mammalian ovary. Data has accumulated in support of ovarian stem cells (OSCs) proliferation, maintenance in culture, formation of germ cell nests and differentiation into oocytes and primordial follicle assembly using different strategies.ResultsFlow cytometry analysis identified >8 μm OSCs which are DDX1 positive and are considered equivalent to spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in testis. Analysis of both ovarian and testicular smears obtained after enzymatic digestion has led to the identification of an additional stem cell population termed very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs). VSELs and OSCs/SSCs differ from each other in their size and OCT-4 expression. VSELs express pluripotent markers including nuclear OCT-4 whereas OSCs/SSCs express cytoplasmic OCT-4 suggesting a differentiated state. VSELs can be studied by flow cytometry as small sized cells which are LIN-/CD45-/Sca-1+. We have reported 0.02 ± 0.008, 0.03 ± 0.017 and 0.08 ± 0.03 % of total cells as VSELs in normal, chemoablated and after FSH treatment to chemoablated mouse ovary.ConclusionsVSELs have remained poorly studied till now because of their very small size and rare occurrence. Spinning cells obtained after enzymatic digestion of ovarian tissue at a speed of 1000G (rather than 1200 rpm) throughout processing allows reliable detection of the VSELs by flow cytometry. VSELs exist in aged, chemoablated and non-functional ovary and providing a healthy niche to support their function offers an interesting strategy to manage infertility.

Highlights

  • Existing dogma that a female is born with fixed number of eggs was challenged by the detection of stem cells in adult mammalian ovary

  • Commentary We read with great interest a recent review in Journal of Ovarian Research published by Silvestris et al [1] on ovarian stem cells and how they could be used to manage infertility

  • They have described in a very lucid manner how the research progressed in the field and we thank them for confirming by flow cytometry that DDX-1 positive ovarian stem cells (OSCs) coexpress OCT-4

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Existing dogma that a female is born with fixed number of eggs was challenged by the detection of stem cells in adult mammalian ovary. This confirms that the stem cells isolated from ovarian cortical tissue by Tilly’s group by flow cytometry [2] are similar to the OCT-4 positive stem cells isolated by mechanical scraping of ovary

Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call