Folliculogenesis-Associated Genes Expression in Human Vitrified Ovarian Tissue after Xenotransplantation in γ-Irradiated Mice

Shams Mofarahe, Zahra; Ghaffari Novin, Marefat; Salehnia, Mojdeh

doi:10.22074/cellj.2020.6553

Folliculogenesis-Associated Genes Expression in Human Vitrified Ovarian Tissue after Xenotransplantation in γ-Irradiated Mice

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Biology and Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

² Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

10.22074/cellj.2020.6553

Abstract

Objective
Autograft transplantation of vitrified cortical ovarian tissue is an acceptable clinical technique for fertility preservation in women. Xenograft transplantation into animal models could be useful for evaluating the safety of human vitrified ovarian tissue. This study targeted to evaluate impact of vitrification on expression of the genes associated with folliculogenesis after xenograft transplantation of human vitrified ovarian tissue to γ-irradiated mice.
Materials and Methods
In this experimental study, ovarian biopsies were gathered from six transsexual persons. The cortical section of ovarian biopsies was separated and chopped into small pieces. These pieces were randomly divided into vitrified and non-vitrified groups. In each group some pieces were considered as non-transplanted tissues and the others were transplanted to γ-irradiated female National Medical Research Institute (NMRI) mice. Before and after two weeks of xenograft transplantation, histological assessment and evaluation of the expression of folliculogenesis- associated genes (FIGLA, GDF-9, KL and FSHR) were performed in both vitrified and non-vitrified groups.
Results
Percentage of the normal follicles and expression of the all examined genes from transplanted and non- transplanted tissue were similar in both vitrified and non-vitrified groups (P > 0.05). After transplantation, the normal follicle rate was significantly decreased and among the folliculogenesis-associated genes, expression of GDF-9 gene was significantly increased, rather than before transplantation in vitrified and non-vitrified tissues (P < 0.05).
Conclusion
The vitrification method using dimethyl solphoxide and ethylene glycol (EG) had no remarkable effect on the normal follicular rate and expression of folliculogenesis-associated genes after two weeks human ovarian tissue xenografting. In addition, transplantation process can cause a significant decrease in normal follicular rate and expression of GDF-9 gene.

Keywords