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Immunolocalization and expression of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein during the transitional stages of rat follicular differentiation
Immunolocalization and expression of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein during the transitional stages of rat follicular differentiation
- Source :
- The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society. 47(6)
- Publication Year :
- 1999
-
Abstract
- SUMMARY This study was designed to determine the pattern of expression and cellular distribution of the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) during the transitional stages of follicular differentiation in rat ovary. Using specific antisera against the StAR, immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, and immunoprecipitation analyses provide evidence confirming the localization and expression of StAR in granulosa cells (GCs) of juvenile rat ovaries before and after PMSG treatment. The results also show that StAR expression occurs in theca intersitial cells surrounding preantral, antral, and larger antral follicles in adult diestrous ovaries. Furthermore, we have demonstrated heterogenous StAR immunoreactivity in the granulosa cell layers and cells of the corpora lutea. A novel finding presented here is that, during ongoing growth and differentiation of the follicle, the immunoreactivity of StAR tends to shift from the GC of early antral follicles to the theca cell layers in the adult. The spatiotemporal changes or shifts in StAR expression and cellular localization also coincide with the appearance of more acidic isoforms of the 30-kD protein, as determined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Although the functional implications of these observations remain unclear, the acute temporal changes in StAR expression and localization may not only reflect the dynamic steroidogenic capacity of follicular cells but may also support a possible role for FSH in the induction of follicular maturation. (J Histochem Cytochem 47:769‐776, 1999)
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
endocrine system
medicine.medical_specialty
Histology
Granulosa cell
Blotting, Western
Ovary
Biology
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
03 medical and health sciences
Ovarian Follicle
Internal medicine
Follicular phase
medicine
Animals
Cellular localization
Granulosa Cells
Microscopy, Confocal
030102 biochemistry & molecular biology
urogenital system
Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein
Theca Cell
Membrane Proteins
Cell Differentiation
Antral follicle
Phosphoproteins
Cell biology
Rats
030104 developmental biology
Endocrinology
medicine.anatomical_structure
Theca
Female
Anatomy
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00221554
- Volume :
- 47
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....73c187db24f8f51901d4c9d3cce0295e