Abstract
In mammalian ovaries, follicular development and atresia, and luteal body degeneration are closely regulated by cell death and survival/proliferation factors, including hormones (gonadotropins) and intra-ovarian regulators (gonadal steroids, cytokines, and intracellular proteins). Several hundred thousand primordial follicles are present in the mammalian ovary, however, only a limited number develop to the preovulatory stage and ovulate. The others, more than 99.9% of follicles will be eliminated via a degenerative process known as atresia. After the ovulation, corpus lutea (CLs) are generated. The endocrinological regulatory mechanisms involved in follicular development and atresia, and corpus luteum (CL) formation and degeneration have been characterized to a large extent, but the precise temporal and molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of these events have remained largely unknown. Recently, we found a novel anti-apoptotic protein (cellar FLICE-like protein: cFLIP; which has spricing variants: short form and long form, cFLIPs and cFLIP l, respectively), which regulates apoptosis in granulose cells of follicles and luteal cells of CLs. The CL is main functional organ for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. When females lost pregnancy, CL allows the development of a follicle and the reproductive cycles begins again. The aim of this study is to reveal the changes in the expression levels of the anti-apoptotic protein and its mRNA during estrus cycle and pregnancy in CLs of mice.
