Gene expression profile in human ovarian granulosa cells during long-term in vitro culture

Granulosa cells (GCs) have many endocrine functions. However, in long-term in vitro culture GCs can change their properties. GCs were collected from hyper-stimulated ovarian follicles from woman during IVF procedures. They were cultured in in vitro long-term culture. RNA was collected after 1, 7, 15 and 30 days of culture. Expression microarrays were used for analysis, which allowed to identify groups of genes characteristic for particular cellular processes. In this study, we demonstrated the gene expression profile of long time primary cultured human ovarian granulosa cells. Human ovarian granulosa cells were obtained from patients, aged 18-40 years, with diagnosed infertility. The cells were harvested after 24h, 7 days, 15 days and 30 days after beginning of culture and submitted to RNA isolation and microarray analysis.