Human granulosa. Human granulosa

We are human embryologists from center for reproductive medicinel of Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, and we have the expertise to do all that properly in humans. By deep sequencing, the current experiment determined the miRNA profile of two intrafollicular somatic cell types: CRCs and COCs, isolated from women undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation and in vitro fertilization treatment. Ovarian follicles, which are a densely-packed shell of granulosa cells that contains an immature or mature oocyte, are above all responsible for the development, maturation, and release of mature egg for fertilization. They are also responsible for synthesizing and secreting hormones that are essential for follicular development, menstrual and estrous cycle, maintenance of the reproductive tracts and their functions, development of female secondary sex characteristics, and metabolism. During folliculogenesis, ovarian granulosa cells surrounding the oocyte differentiate into mural granulosa cells, involved in gonadal steroidogenesis, and into cumulus cells, which are ovulated with the oocyte at ovulation. These cumulus cells derive from the same population of early follicles, but differentiate into two distinct groups of cells: 1) Those directly lie on the zona pellucida are composed of the so called "corona radiata cells".(CRCs) 2) The other group surrounds the CRCs and consists of more numerous cells, forming the so called "cumulus oophorus cells (COCs)". In the present study, we described the miRNA expression profile to characterize the ensemble of both known and novel miRNAs expressed in CRCs, as well as in COCs, by using high-throughput Solexa technology.