A Role for Orphan Nuclear Receptor Liver Receptor Homolog-1 (LRH-1, NR5A2) in Primordial Follicle Activation

The ovarian reserve of follicles comprises all oocytes for lifetime fertility and is depleted by progressive activation. The orphan nuclear receptor liver receptor homolog 1 (LRH-1; Nr5a2) is essential for ovulation, but its role in the early stages of follicular development is not known. We therefore developed a model of conditional depletion of LRH-1 from early postnatal ovaries (postnatal day 4) and performed RNAsequencing to identify LRH-1 regulated genes during the earliest stages of follicular activation. Overall design: Mice with ovarian knockout of liver receptor homolog 1 (LRH-1) were generated using Amhr2-cre (LRH-1 cKO; Nr5a2 f/f, Amhr2-cre Tg/+) and compared to littermate controls with intact LRH-1 expression(Con; Nr5a2 f/f, Amhr2-cre +/+). Ovaries were collected from mice on postnatal day (PND) 4.