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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Ovarian Tissue Culture to Visualize Phenomena in Mouse Ovary
Published on: June 19, 2018
Detection of apoptosis in human and rat ovarian follicles
G N Piquette1, J L Tilly, L E Prichard
1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Stanford University Medical Center, California, USA.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to determine whether cells acquired from individual human preovulatory follicles undergo apoptosis (physiologic cell death) and, if so, to correlate the degree of apoptosis with characteristics of the follicles or the oocytes derived from the follicles.
Methods:
We devised a sensitive nonradioactive method for detecting apoptotic DNA fragmentation in small numbers of cells derived from rat atretic follicles and follicular aspirates of patients undergoing assisted reproductive technologies.
Results:
Using this method, apoptotic DNA was detected in rat atretic follicles, with optimal detection at 10-100 ng. Furthermore, apoptotic DNA was detected in some, but not all individual human follicular aspirates from several patients, and was found in follicles that produced oocytes that fertilized and developed into embryos.
Conclusion:
Apoptosis occurs in cells from human ovarian preovulatory follicles and may be a normal physiologic process of the follicle during luteinization.
