Avian Ovarian Follicular Growth: Role of the Germinal Disc Region

小行星9630957 生产健康的卵子或卵母细胞是物种再生的关键过程。卵巢中的卵母细胞及其周围的卵巢细胞构成生殖单位，称为卵泡。女性生物体投入巨大的能量来维持卵泡的生长和发育。假设没有卵母细胞的卵泡将被身体消除是合乎逻辑的，因为卵泡失去了提供健康卵母细胞的潜力，这些卵母细胞将在受精后发育成个体。然而，没有科学证据支持这一假设。Bahr博士以鸡为动物模型，进行了一系列的实验研究卵母细胞在卵泡生长发育中的作用。在鸡中，卵母细胞和与之相关的细胞被称为生发盘区（GDR）。第一个问题是：在东德被摧毁后，鸡的卵泡会继续生长还是会死亡？第二个问题是：如果鸡的卵泡在GDR破坏后死亡，GDR的替代是否能够拯救卵泡？由于活体动物实验的局限性，Bahr博士将在模拟生理条件的组织培养系统中进行这项实验。最后一个问题是：GDR产生什么来维持卵泡的生长？她将描述民主德国产生的因素。这些实验将为卵母细胞在卵泡发育中的作用以及个体的生殖成功提供有价值的信息。由于鸟类生殖器盘和其他物种的卵母细胞在功能上的相似性，预计这些研究将扩展对各种物种卵泡发育控制的理解。

9630957 Bahr Production of healthy eggs or oocytes is a crucial process for the regeneration of the species. The oocyte and its surrounding ovarian cells in the ovary constitute the reproductive unit called the follicle. Female organisms invest enormous energy to maintain the growth and development of the follicles. It is logical to assume that a follicle without an oocyte will be eliminated by the body since the follicle loses the potential to provide a healthy oocyte which will develop into an individual after fertilization. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this assumption. Dr. Bahr have proposed a series of experiments to investigate the role of the oocyte on the growth and development of follicle using the chicken as the animal model. In the chicken, the oocyte and cells associated with it is called the germinal disc region (GDR). The first question asked is: will the chicken follicle keep growing or will it die after the GDR is destroyed? If the follicle dies, what is the mechanism underlying it. The second question is: if the chicken follicle dies after GDR destruction, is the replacement of the GDR able to rescue the follicle? Because of the limitations of living animal experiments, Dr. Bahr will conduct this experiment in a tissue culture system mimicking the physiological condition. The last question is: what does the GDR produce that can maintain the growth of the follicle? She will characterize the factor(s) produced by the GDR. The proposed experiments will provide valuable information regarding the role of the oocyte in follicular development and therefore the reproductive success of individual. Because of the similarities in function between the avian germinal disc and the oocyte of other species, it is anticipated that these studies will extend understanding of the control of follicular development in variety of species.