Regulation of Cell death in Human Fetal and Adult Ovaries - Role of Bok and Bcl-X

Minna Jääskeläinen (1, 2) , Anni Nieminen (3) , Reeta-Maria Pökkylä (1, 2) , Marjut Kauppinen (4) , Annikki Liakka (5) , Markku Heikinheimo (4, 6) , Tommi E. Vaskivuo (1, 2) , Juha Klefström (3) , Juha S. Tapanainen (1, 2)

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
2 Oulu University Hospital
3 Institute of Biomedicine/Biochemistry and Genome-Scale Biology Research Program
4 Helsingin yliopisto = Helsingfors universitet = University of Helsinki
5 Department of Pathology
6 Department of Pediatrics [Seattle]

Of eight million oocytes formed in fetal ovaries, only 400 are ovulated and the rest are degraded via apoptosis. Studies in rodents suggest an important role for Bok and Bcl-X in ovarian apoptosis, but their expression patterns and roles in human ovaries are not known. Protein expression of Bok and Bcl-X as well as the death pathway effectors TNF and caspase-3 were determined in an important collection of samples consisting of human fetal and adult ovaries. A penetrant expression of Bok, Bcl-X, TNF and full length and cleaved caspase-3 were characterized in fetal ovaries, with specific patterns in oocytes and pre-granulosa/granulosa cells. Bok and Bcl-X were detected also in adult ovaries. Lentiviral shRNA delivery demonstrated that loss of Bok markedly reduces vulnerability to apoptosis and, conversely, loss of Bcl-X increases apoptosis in human granulosa tumour cell line. The results suggest important roles for Bok and Bcl-X in human ovarian development, follicle maturation and apoptosis.

Mots clés: Apoptosis; Bok; Bcl-XL; (Human); (Oocyte); (Granulosa cell)

Minna Jääskeläinen, Anni Nieminen, Reeta-Maria Pökkylä, Marjut Kauppinen, Annikki Liakka, et al.. Regulation of Cell death in Human Fetal and Adult Ovaries - Role of Bok and Bcl-X. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 2010, 330 (1-2), pp.17. ⟨10.1016/j.mce.2010.07.020⟩. ⟨hal-00629961⟩