Korean J Obstet Gynecol.  2004 Dec;47(12):2439-2446.

Regulation of the apoptosis on the rat granulosa cell: effects of EGF, TGF-alpha

• Jo HH
• Hwang SJ
• Kim HY
• Kim MR
• Kwon DJ
• Kim JH
• Kim JH

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) and the transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) on the apoptosis of the rat granulosa cells.
METHODS
For this study, granulosa cells were isolated from female rats, and granulosa cells were cultured in the presence or absence of different autocrine/paracrine factors such as EGF and TGF-alpha. In order to investigate the apoptotic process, the number of apoptotic cells were counted using Annexin V staining via flow cytometry. In addition, the expression levels of the Bcl-2, ICE and BAX genes were checked.
RESULTS
c-AMP induced apoptosis was inhibited neither by EGF nor by TGF-alpha, but FSH induced apoptosis was inhibited by EGF and TGF-alpha. Both EGF and TGF-alpha decreased the rate of apoptosis in the serum free cultured media in a time dependent manner by inducing survival gene expression such as Bcl-2 and suppressing death gene expression such as ICE and BAX.
CONCLUSION
EGF and TGF-alpha can be used to decrease the apoptotic rate of the rat granulosa cells. It is hoped to conduct a similar study on the function of these growth factors in the human granulosa cells, and to use EGF and TGF-alpha for reducing the apoptosis rate of the human granulosa cells in IVF.

Keyword

Granulosa cells; Epidermal growth factor; Transforming growth factor; Apoptosis

MeSH Terms

Animals
Annexin A5
Apoptosis*
Epidermal Growth Factor*
Female
Flow Cytometry
Gene Expression
Granulosa Cells*
Hope
Humans
Ice
Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
Rats*
Transforming Growth Factor alpha*
Transforming Growth Factors
Annexin A5
Epidermal Growth Factor
Ice
Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
Transforming Growth Factor alpha
Transforming Growth Factors