Measurement of apoptosis in long-term cultures of human ovarian tissue

At present, the long-term culture of ovarian tissue is problematic. The aim of this study was to measure apoptosis in long-term cultures of human ovarian tissue. Biopsies of human ovaries were cultured for 6 weeks. Samples were taken weekly for histological investigation. The apoptotic cells were marked with anti-caspase 3. Simultaneous to this experiment, other tissue samples were preincubated for 3 h with 1 micromol staurosporine l(-1), an inducer of apoptosis, and apoptosis was compared among samples. Furthermore, the proportion of lethal cells was determined weekly. After 6 weeks, 99% of the tissue samples showed an intact structure. They expanded in all directions on the floor of the multi-wells to form a monolayer. Apoptotic cells could be marked only sporadically (16.3 +/- 5.9 fluorescence (counts per 3600 microm(2))) after 6 weeks. After preincubation with staurosporine after the same period of culture, the proportion of apoptotic cells was significantly increased compared with that in untreated control samples (66.8 +/- 14.5 versus 16.3 +/- 5.9%, respectively; P < 0.05). Under the same experimental conditions, the proportion of lethal cells was 3.6 +/- 0.9, 3.9 +/- 2.1 and 5.2 +/- 1.5% for weeks 1, 3 and 6, respectively. After preincubation with 1 micromol staurosporine l(-1), the proportion of pyknotic cells after 6 weeks of culture was significantly higher (37.2 +/- 4.4%) than that in control samples (3.95 +/- 2.05%; P < 0.05). No significant increase in apoptosis in cultured human ovarian tissue after 6 weeks was observed compared with control tissues on day 1. These results indicate that under optimal culture conditions it is possible to cultivate human ovarian tissue long term. The influence of long-term culture on hormone synthesis and follicle maturity will be investigated further.