TY - JOUR
T1 - Aging of oocyte, ovary, and human reproduction
AU - Ottolenghi, Chris
AU - Uda, Manuela
AU - Hamatani, Toshio
AU - Crisponi, Laura
AU - Garcia, Jose Elias
AU - Ko, Minoru
AU - Pilia, Giuseppe
AU - Sforza, Chiarella
AU - Schlessinger, David
AU - Forabosco, Antonino
PY - 2004
Y1 - 2004
N2 - We review age-related changes in the ovary and their effect on female fertility, with particular emphasis on follicle formation, follicle dynamics, and oocyte quality. The evidence indicates that the developmental processes leading to follicle formation set the rules determining follicle quiescence and growth. This regulatory system is maintained until menopause and is directly affected in at least some models of premature ovarian failure (POF), most strikingly in the Foxl2 mouse knockout, a model of human POF with monogenic etiology (blepharophimosis/ptosis/epicanthus inversus syndrome). Several lines of evidence indicate that if the ovarian germ cell lineage maintains regenerative potential, as recently suggested in the mouse, a role in follicle dynamics for germ stem cells, if any, is likely indirect or secondary. In addition, age-related variations in oocyte quality in animal models suggest that reproductive competence is acquired progressively and might depend on parallel growth and differentiation of follicle cells and stroma. Genomewide analyses of the mouse oocyte transcriptome have begun to be used to systematically investigate the mechanisms of reproductive competence that are altered with aging. Investigative and therapeutic strategies can benefit from considering the role of continuous interactions between follicle cells and oocytes from the beginning of histogenesis to full maturation.
AB - We review age-related changes in the ovary and their effect on female fertility, with particular emphasis on follicle formation, follicle dynamics, and oocyte quality. The evidence indicates that the developmental processes leading to follicle formation set the rules determining follicle quiescence and growth. This regulatory system is maintained until menopause and is directly affected in at least some models of premature ovarian failure (POF), most strikingly in the Foxl2 mouse knockout, a model of human POF with monogenic etiology (blepharophimosis/ptosis/epicanthus inversus syndrome). Several lines of evidence indicate that if the ovarian germ cell lineage maintains regenerative potential, as recently suggested in the mouse, a role in follicle dynamics for germ stem cells, if any, is likely indirect or secondary. In addition, age-related variations in oocyte quality in animal models suggest that reproductive competence is acquired progressively and might depend on parallel growth and differentiation of follicle cells and stroma. Genomewide analyses of the mouse oocyte transcriptome have begun to be used to systematically investigate the mechanisms of reproductive competence that are altered with aging. Investigative and therapeutic strategies can benefit from considering the role of continuous interactions between follicle cells and oocytes from the beginning of histogenesis to full maturation.
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U2 - 10.1196/annals.1335.015
DO - 10.1196/annals.1335.015
M3 - Article
C2 - 15731305
AN - SCOPUS:20144383481
SN - 0077-8923
VL - 1034
SP - 117
EP - 131
JO - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
JF - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
ER -