Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:58:19.200Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Endocrine and paracrine regulation of cumulus expansion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Antonietta Salustri ,
Antonella Camaioni  and
Cristina D'Alessandris
Antonietta Salustri*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Biologia Cellulare, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Rome, Italy.
Antonella Camaioni
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Biologia Cellulare, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Rome, Italy.
Cristina D'Alessandris
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica e Biologia Cellulare, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Rome, Italy.
*
Antonietta Salustri, Dipartimento di Sanitè Pubblica e Biologia Cellulare, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Via O. Raimondo, 00173 Rome, Italy.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In a Graafian follicle, granulosa cells are classified into two principal cell subpopulations: cumulus cells, which are closely associated with the oocyte to form the cumulus cell-oocyte complex (COC), and mural granulosa cells, which are organised as a stratified epithelium at the periphery of the follicle. Following the preovulatory gonadotropin surge, cumulus cells lose contact with mural granulosa cells and start to synthesise and secrete a large amount of hyaluronan (HA), a glycosaminoglycan with high molecular weight and large hydrodynamic domains (Salustri et al., 1992). Proteins derived from serum (Chen et al., 1992, 1994) and synthesised by cumulus cells (Camaioni et al., 1993, 1996) organise the strands of HA into an intercellular elastic network that traps the cumulus cells and the oocyte in a unit which can not be mechanically dissociated – a process also referred to as cumulus expansion. At ovulation, the expanded COC is released through the ruptured follicle wall and transferred to the oviduct. The matrix in the expanded COC facilitates its extrusion from the follicle and its capture by oviductal fimbria, and provides, together with the cumulus cells, a suitable microenvironment for sperm penetration and fertilisation (for references see Salustri et al., 1993).

Type
Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 4 , Issue 4 , November 1996 , pp. 313 - 315
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Camaioni, A., Hascall, V.C., Yanagishita, M. & Salustri, A. (1993). Effect of exogenous hyaluronic acid and serum on matrix organization and stability in the mouse cumulus cell–oocyte complex. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 20473–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Camaioni, A., Salustri, A., Yanagishita, M. & Hascall, A. (1996). Proteoglycans and proteins in the extracellular matrix of mouse cumulus cell–oocyte complexes. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 325, 190–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Canipari, R., O'Connell, M.L., Meyer, G. & Strickland, S. (1987). Mouse ovarian granulosa cells produce urokinase-type plasminogen activator, whereas the corresponding rat cells produce tissue-type plasminogen activator. J. Cell Biol. 105, 977–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Canipari, R., Epifano, O., Siracusa, G. & Salustri, A. (1995). Mouse oocytes inhibit plasminogen activator production by ovarian cumulus and granulosa cells. Dev. Biol. 167, 371–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, L., Mao, S.J.T. & Larsen, W.J. (1992). Identification of a factor in fetal bovine serum that stabilizes the cumulus extracellular matrix. J. Biol. Chem. 267, 12 380–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, L., Mao, S.J.T., McLean, L.R., Powers, R.W. & Larsen, W.J. (1994). Proteins of the inter-α-trypsin inhibitor family stabilize the cumulus extracellular matrix through their direct binding with hyaluronic acid. J. Biol. Chem. 269, 28 282–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eppig, J.J., Peters, A.H.F.M., Telfer, E.E. & Wigglesworth, K. (1993). Production of cumulus expansion enabling factor by mouse oocytes grown in vitro: preliminary characterization of the factor. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 34, 450–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salustri, A., Yanagishita, M. & Hascall, V.C. (1989). Synthesis and accumulation of hyaluronic acid and proteoglycans in the mouse cumulus cell–oocyte complex during follicle stimulating hormone-induced mucification. J. Biol. Chem. 264, 13 840–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salustri, A., Ulisse, S., Yanagishita, M. & Hascall, V.C. (1990 a). Hyaluronic acid synthesis by mural granulosa cells and cumulus cells in vitro is selectively stimulated by a factor produced by oocytes and by transforming growth factor-β. J. Biol. Chem. 265, 19517–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salustri, A., Yanagishita, M. & Hascall, V.C. (1990 b). Mouse oocytes regulate hyaluronic acid synthesis and mucification by FSH-stimulated cumulus cells. Dev. Biol. 138, 26–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salustri, A., Yanagishita, M., Underhill, C., Laurent, T.C. & Hascall, V.C. (1992). Localization and synthesis of hyaluronic acid in the cumulus cells and mural granulosa cells of the preovulatory follicles. Dev. Biol. 151, 541–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salustri, A., Hascall, V.C., Camaioni, A. & Yanagishita, M. (1993). Oocyte–granulosa cell interractions. In the Ovary, ed, Adashi, E.Y. & Leung, P.C.K. pp. 209–225. New York: Raven press.Google Scholar
Tirone, E., Siracusa, G., Hascall, V.C., Frajese, G. & Salustri, A. (1993). Oocyted preserve the ability of mouse cumulus cells in culture to synthesize hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulfate. Dev. Biol. 160, 405–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar