Cyclic AMP in mammalian follicle cells and oocytes during maturation

Intact ovarian follicles and isolated oocytes were cultured for 30 sec to 18 hr in the presence of gonadotrophins, and the cyclic AMP content in the follicle and oocyte was measured. The basal content of cyclic AMP in ovine oocytes before gonadotrophic stimulation was 6.3 +/- 0.7 fmol/oocyte or 8 microM. There was no fall in oocyte cyclic AMP concentration as an immediate response to the gonadotrophins, but at 1, and 12-18 hr after stimulation, the concentration in both the oocytes and follicle cells was considerably elevated. There was no comparable increase in intracellular cyclic AMP in oocytes denuded of follicle cells before culture, even when both gonadotrophins and phosphodiesterase inhibitors were included in the medium. We conclude that the signal which initiates oocyte maturation in mammals differs from that of amphibia, where an early fall in intracellular cyclic AMP is essential for the resumption of meiosis. Moreover, cellular interactions within the mammalian follicle are necessary for the characteristic periods of increased cyclic AMP in oocytes during maturation.