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Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Extraction, Labeling, and Purification of Lineage-Specific Cells from Human Antral Follicles
Published on: November 30, 2022
Contributions from the ovarian follicular environment to oocyte function
Maite Del Collado1, Gabriella Mamede Andrade1, Flávio Vieira Meirelles1
1Faculty of Animal Sciences and Food Engineering, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, SP, Brazil.
Abstract:
The magnitude of oocyte's role for embryo development is categorical. This unique cell contains the machineries and cellular components necessary to remodel male and female chromatin, to sustain early development and to, ultimately, generate a complete and complex individual. However, to gain these competences before fertilization, the oocyte undergoes several morphological, cellular and molecular changes during its lifetime enclosed in the ovarian follicle. This review will briefly revisit how the oocyte orchestrate the follicular cells, and how molecules transit to the oocyte from the innermost (cumulus) and outermost (antrum and granulosa cells) layers surrounding the follicle-enclosed oocyte. Finally, we will discuss the interferences of in vitro culture conditions in the communication of the oocyte with its surrounding cells and the potential strategies to modulate these communication systems to increase oocyte competence.
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