Immunohiostochemical localization of two types of fatty acid‐binding proteins in rat ovaries during postnatal development and in immature rat ovaries treated with gonadotropins

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Abstract
Background: The ovary of adult rats expresses two types of cytoplasmic fatty acid binding proteins (FABP), i.e., Heart FABP (H‐FABP) and intestinal 15 kDa proteins (I‐15p). We studied immunohistochemically the cellular localizations of these FABPs in the ovaries of rts at various postnatal ages and in the ovaries of immature (3‐week‐old)rats treated with pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). Methods: The cryosections of ovaries were incubated with polyclonal antibodies aganist H‐FABP and I‐15P, and the immunoreactions were visualized at both light and electron microscpic levels. Results: The immunorectivity for H‐FABP occurred temporarilly in tthe follicular epithelian (granulosa) cells from 3 days to 2 weeks post partum, and then was localized exclusively to the theca/interstitial gland cells from 2 weeks to adulthood. In contrast, the immunoreactivity for I‐15P appeared temporarily in a small subsct of theca/intersitial gland cells from 2 to 3 weeks, disappeared at 4 weeks, and was localized exclusively to the corpus luteum cells after the onset of ovulation in the animal around 5 weeks. In the immature rat ovaries induced to ovulate by treatment with gonadotropins, I‐15P‐immunocreative cells were first recognized in the luteinized granulosa layer of large preovulatory follicles, and increased in number progressively in the developing corpora lutea after the ovulation. Conclusions: Two type of FABPs are expressed in ditinct steroid‐producing cell types of rat ovary, and their expressions seem to be regulated in results suggest that FABPs play specifie roles in the ovarian hormone synthesis.

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