In vivo gene expression in granulosa cells during pig terminal follicular development

Abstract

Ovarian antral follicular development is clearly dependent on pituitary gonadotrophins FSH and LH. Although the endocrine mechanism that controls ovarian folliculogenesis leading to ovulation is quite well understood, the detailed mechanisms and molecular determinants in the different follicular compartments remain to be clarified. The aim of this study was to identify the genes differentially expressed in pig granulosa cells along the terminal ovarian follicle growth, to gain a comprehensive view of these molecular mechanisms. First, we developed a specific micro-array using cDNAs from suppression subtractive hybridization libraries (345 contigs) obtained by comparison of three follicle siz..