Female Reproduction Flashcards
(15 cards)
Where are the ovarian follicles located?
The cortex of the ovary
What is housed in the medulla of the ovary?
Blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue
What are the two functions of the ovary?
Development of the female gamete (oocyte) for fertilization
Production and secretion of sex steroid hormones that regulate reproductive health
What do you call the developmental process of ovarian follicles starting from a reserve of quiescent primordial follicles set up in early life and ending with either ovulation or follicular death by atresia?
Folliculogenesis
What are the 3 cellular events that occur during gonad transformation to ovaries?
Supporting cells (subtype of somatic cells) become granulosa cells
Steroidogenic cell precursors (another subtype of somatic cells) that later become the a cells
Primordial germ cells, which become oocytes through the process called oogenesis
Where does the development of the ovary commence in the location of the future gonadal ridge?
Mesonephric surface epithelium
What do mesonephric surface epithelial cells phenotype into?
Gonadal ride epithelial-like (GREL) cells
The GREL cells proliferate, and the basal lamina underlying the mesonephric surface epithelium breaks down allowing what to happen?
Stromal cells to penetrate into the gonadal ridge
GREL cells continue to proliferate, and primordial germ cells migrate into what?
The ridge between the GREL cells
Oogonia proliferate and stroma penetrate further towards the ovarian surface enclosing what?
Oogonia and GREL cells into ovigerous cords
Compartmentalizations into the cortex and medulla becomes obvious. GREL cells at the surface align to the basal lamina and begin to differentiate into what?
Typical ovarian surface epithelium
Ovigerous cords are partitioned into smaller cords and eventually into follicles. These contain GREL cells that form what?
Granulosa cells and oogonia that form granulosa cells and oogonia that form oocytes
At the final stage, the surface epithelium becomes mostly what?
Single-layered and tunica albuginea
What are primordial follicles?
A primary oocyte, surrounded by a single layer of flat follicular cells, about 90 days of gestation (cattle)
When is a follicle called a primary follicle?
She when the epithelium around the primary oocyte becomes cuboidal
