Influence of ovarian surface epithelium and rete ovarii on follicle formation

Early follicle development has been studied in mouse ovaries grafted to immunologically incompetent hosts. Early follicular formation and growth is apparently dependent on the presence of the rete ovarii: the surface epithelium does not seem to play a decisive role. This was shown in transplantation studies of fetal gonads which had been divided into parts with and without the rete ovarii. None of the rete-depleted ovaries exhibited normal follicular differentiation regardless of the presence or absence of the surface epithelium, whereas follicles developed normally in all the implants containing the rete system.