Stem Cell Interaction with Somatic Niche May Hold the Key to Fertility Restoration in Cancer Patients

Figure 2

Proposed model for postnatal oogenesis in adult mammalian ovary. Pluripotent stem cells with nuclear OCT-4 (VSELs) being located in the ovary surface epithelium (OSE). These cells undergo asymmetric cell division and give rise to cells with cytoplasmic OCT-4 (OGSCs, which intensely stain with Haematoxylin). The OGSCs undergo further proliferation, meiosis, and differentiation to assemble into primordial follicles in the OSE. The granulosa cells are formed by the epithelial cells that undergo epithelial mesenchymal transition [30]. As the follicles grow and further mature, they shift into the ovarian medulla. Confocal images represent VSEL and OGSC isolated by scraping the surface epithelium of perimenopausal human ovary [30].