Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on March 25, 2004
Molecular Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/molehr/gah056
© 2004 by Oxford University Press
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 MRC Human Reproductive Sciences Unit, Centre for Reproductive Biology, University of Edinburgh Chancellor’s Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: r.bayne{at}hrsu.mrc.ac.uk.
The process of primordial follicle formation is central to the determination of a woman’s reproductive lifespan, and in humans occurs towards the end of mid-gestation. Gene knockout analysis in the mouse has shown that Figla, a transcription factor specifically expressed in germ cells, is essential for oocytes to survive and form primordial follicles. Our objective was to investigate whether a human homologue present in the genome database plays a similar role in human ovary development. Standard and real-time RT-PCR demonstrated that the human FIGLA gene is expressed in the fetal ovary but not by a range of other tissues, and that expression increases across mid-gestation, rising some 40-fold by the time of primordial follicle formation. The entire coding sequence was cloned and new exonic sequences identified. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays with in vitro-expressed human FIGLA protein showed that, as in the mouse, FIGLA can heterodimerize with E12 protein and bind to the E-box of the human ZP2 promoter. Similar mobility shifts were identified in human fetal ovary extracts. These results suggest that FIGLA is involved in continued oocyte survival as primordial follicles form in the human as in the rodent ovary.
Revised February 16, 2004
Accepted March 7, 2004
Article
Increased expression of the FIGLA transcription factor is associated with primordial follicle formation in the human fetal ovary
Abstract 
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. Duffin, R.A.L. Bayne, A.J. Childs, C. Collins, and R.A. Anderson The forkhead transcription factor FOXL2 is expressed in somatic cells of the human ovary prior to follicle formation Mol. Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2009; 15(12): 771 - 777. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. A. Edson, A. K. Nagaraja, and M. M. Matzuk The Mammalian Ovary from Genesis to Revelation Endocr. Rev., October 1, 2009; 30(6): 624 - 712. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. A. Fowler, S. Flannigan, A. Mathers, K. Gillanders, R. G. Lea, M. J. Wood, A. Maheshwari, S. Bhattacharya, E. S. R. Collie-Duguid, P. J. Baker, et al. Gene Expression Analysis of Human Fetal Ovarian Primordial Follicle Formation J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., April 1, 2009; 94(4): 1427 - 1435. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. E. Dickinson, M. Myers, and W. C. Duncan Novel Regulated Expression of the SLIT/ROBO Pathway in the Ovary: Possible Role during Luteolysis in Women Endocrinology, October 1, 2008; 149(10): 5024 - 5034. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. J. Walton, R. A. L. Bayne, I. Wallace, D. T. Baird, and R. A. Anderson Direct Effect of Progestogen on Gene Expression in the Testis during Gonadotropin Withdrawal and Early Suppression of Spermatogenesis J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., July 1, 2006; 91(7): 2526 - 2533. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. J. Guigon and S. Magre Contribution of Germ Cells to the Differentiation and Maturation of the Ovary: Insights from Models of Germ Cell Depletion Biol Reprod, March 1, 2006; 74(3): 450 - 458. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. A. Pangas and A. Rajkovic Transcriptional regulation of early oogenesis: in search of masters Hum. Reprod. Update, January 1, 2006; 12(1): 65 - 76. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. K. Skinner Regulation of primordial follicle assembly and development Hum. Reprod. Update, September 1, 2005; 11(5): 461 - 471. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|