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First published online 11 November 2008
doi: 10.1242/jcs.036400

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Effect of cell shape and packing density on granulosa cell proliferation and formation of multiple layers during early follicle development in the ovary

¹ Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, UK
² Department of Histopathology, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RF, UK
³ Department of Mathematics and Centre for Integrative Systems Biology at Imperial College (CISBIC), Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: k.hardy{at}imperial.ac.uk)

Accepted 20 August 2008

The postnatal mouse ovary is rich in quiescent and early-growing oocytes, each one surrounded by a layer of somatic granulosa cells (GCs) on a basal lamina. As oocytes start to grow the GCs change shape from flattened to cuboidal, increase their proliferation and form multiple layers, providing a unique model for studying the relationship between cell shape, proliferation and multilayering within the context of two different intercommunicating cell types: somatic and germ cells. Proliferation of GCs was quantified using immunohistochemistry for Ki67 and demonstrated that, unusually, cuboidal cells divided more than flat cells. As a second layer of GCs started to appear, cells on the basal lamina reached maximum packing density and the axes of their mitoses became perpendicular to the basal lamina, resulting in cells dividing inwards to form second and subsequent layers. Proliferation of basal GCs was less than that of inner cells. Ultrastructurally, collagen fibrils outside the basal lamina became more numerous as follicles developed. We propose that the basement membrane and/or theca cells that surround the follicle provide an important confinement for rapidly dividing columnar cells so that they attain maximum packing density, which restricts lateral mitosis and promotes inwardly oriented cell divisions and subsequent multilayering.

Key words: Basal lamina, Cell division, Cell shape, Granulosa cells, Multilayering, Ovary, Theca cells

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				P. Da Silva-Buttkus, G. S. Jayasooriya, J. M. Mora, M. Mobberley, T. A. Ryder, M. Baithun, J. Stark, S. Franks, and K. Hardy Effect of cell shape and packing density on granulosa cell proliferation and formation of multiple layers during early follicle development in the ovary Development, December 15, 2008; 135(24): e1 - e1. [Full Text]