Effect of interactions between granulosa and thecal cells on meiotic arrest in bovine oocytes

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Abstract
An in vitro culture system in which two types of cell from ovarian follicular walls were attached to opposite surfaces of a collagen membrane was developed. The effect of granulosa-theca cell communication on oocyte maturation was investigated using this culture system. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes were incubated with granulosa cells, with or without theca cells. The time course of germinal vesicle breakdown was assessed. When cultured with granulosa cells alone, oocytes showed 100% germinal vesicle breakdown after incubation for 6 h. However, when cultured with granulosa and theca cells, germinal vesicle breakdown was significantly delayed for up to 12 h. Breakdown was further delayed by 12 h when cumulus-oocyte complexes were incubated with FSH-treated granulosa and thecal cultures. FSH did not exert this inhibitory effect when in culture with granulosa cells alone. When cumulus-oocyte complexes were incubated with thecal cells alone, all oocytes underwent germinal vesicle breakdown within 6 h; the addition of FSH to the culture medium did not affect the time course of breakdown. It is concluded that a signal(s) from thecal cells augments the meiosis-arresting activity of granulosa cells and that FSH increases the meiosis-arresting activity of granulosa cells under the influence of thecal cells.

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