The Factors and Pathways Regulating the Activation of Mammalian Primordial Follicles in vivo

Yao Chen; Weina Yang; Xu Shi; Chenlu Zhang; Ge Song; Donghui Huang

doi:10.3389/fcell.2020.575706

The Factors and Pathways Regulating the Activation of Mammalian Primordial Follicles in vivo

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020 Sep 30:8:575706. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2020.575706. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Yao Chen¹, Weina Yang¹, Xu Shi¹, Chenlu Zhang¹, Ge Song², Donghui Huang¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Reproduction Health Research (Institute of Family Planning Research), Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
² NHC Key Laboratory of Male Reproduction and Genetics, Family Planning Research Institute of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China.

Abstract

Mammalian ovaries consist of follicles as basic functional units. Each follicle comprised an innermost oocyte and several surrounding flattened granulosa cells. Unlike males, according to the initial size of the primordial follicle pool and the rate of its activation and depletion, a female's reproductive life has been determined early in life. Primordial follicles, once activated, will get into an irreversible process of development. Most follicles undergo atretic degeneration, and only a few of them could mature and ovulate. Although there are a lot of researches contributing to exploring the activation of primordial follicles, little is known about its underlying mechanisms. Thus, in this review, we collected the latest papers and summarized the signaling pathways as well as some factors involved in the activation of primordial follicles, hoping to lead to a more profound understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of primordial follicle activation.

Keywords: activation; factors; mechanism; primordial follicle; signaling pathways.

Publication types

Review