Paracrine Regulation of Steroidogenesis in Theca Cells by Granulosa Cells Derived from Mouse Preantral Follicles

Figure 4

(a) Effect of granulosa cells on mRNA expression of LHR in TCs cells and LH stimulation of androgen production in TCs in the cocultured model. The LHR mRNA expression of TCs in cocultured model increased significantly at 48 h but manifested no difference compared with TCs cultured alone at 24 h and 72 h (GAPDH as internal control). (b) Effect of GCs on testosterone production responded to LH in TCs cells after being cocultured for 48 h. Testosterone production significantly increased in response to low concentrations of LH (0–0.1 IU/mL) in the cocultured model but no increase was observed at high concentration (1 IU/mL). (c) Effect of GCs on androstenedione production responded to LH in TCs cells after being cocultured for 48 h. Androstenedione production significantly increased in response to different concentrations of LH (0-1 IU/mL) in the cocultured model. Data were expressed as mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. The asterisk showed the statistically significant difference. .

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