科研之友
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摘要
Inhibins, as members of the transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, downregulate the synthesis and secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in an endocrine manner. The role of inhibin/betaglycan in the ovary regulation recently gained attention. To date, no data exist on the function of inhibin alpha subunit and betaglycan in cystic follicles. In this study, the expressions of inhibin alpha subunit and betaglycan in cystic follicles were investigated using immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR and Western blot analysis. Both inhibin alpha subunit and betaglycan immunoreactivities were mainly localized in the granulosa cells of follicles. Expression of inhibin alpha subunit and betaglycan was inferior in cystic follicles compared with that in normal large follicles. However, the result of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed no significant difference in the decreasing in concentration of inhibin alpha subunit in cystic follicular fluid compared with the control (P>0.05). In this study, we explored the effects of FSH on betaglycan expression in granulosa cells in vitro. As expected, a significant increase in the expressions of betaglycan mRNA and protein in granulosa cells was observed in response to exogenous FSH (30 ng/ml) (P<0.05) compared with the control. Consequently, this study provides evidence that the expressions of inhibin alpha subunit and betaglycan are inferior in cystic follicles, and this may be caused by the decrease in FSH in the presence of a cystic follicle.
