Endocrine Abstracts

There are two populations of GCs in large antral follicles: mural granulosa cells (MGCs) that line the ovarian follicle wall, and cumulus cells (CCs) closely associated with the oocyte. Among the genes expressed more highly in CCs was one encoding an amino acid transporter (Slc38a3). Slc38a3 mRNA was not detected in oocytes. Expression of Slc38a3 mRNA was reduced in the CCs after removal of the oocyte and restored by co-culturing CCs with fully-grown oocyt...