Endocrine Abstracts

It is now possible to modify the mouse genome to generate strains of mice with precise genetic mutations. Over 50 strains of mutant mice have now been produced in which there is an alteration in female fertility (Elvin and Matzuk, Reviews of Reproduction, 1998). For example, we have shown that a knockout of the oocyte-specific TGF-beta family member, growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9), results in a block at the primary follicle stage (Dong et al., Nature, 1996; Carabatso...

CTGF is a heparin-binding multi-domain growth factor, stimulated by TGF- beta, and implicated as a paracrine regulator of mitosis, angiogenesis, cellular taxis and remodelling of the extracellular matrix in diverse epithelial cell layers. To examine the roles of CTGF in the ovarian paracrine system, we studied rat granulosa cell CTGF gene expression both in vitro and in vivo. Untreated granulosa cell monolayers from DES-treated immature rats expressed abundant ap...