Kreeger Pamela K, Deck Jason W, Woodruff Teresa K, Shea Lonnie D
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd, Tech E136, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Biomaterials. 2006 Feb;27(5):714-23. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.06.016. Epub 2005 Aug 1.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides a three-dimensional structure that promotes and regulates cell adhesion and provides signals that direct the cellular processes leading to tissue development. In this report, synthetic matrices that present defined ECM components were employed to investigate these signaling effects on tissue formation using ovarian follicle maturation as a model system. In vitro systems for follicle culture are being developed to preserve fertility for women, and cultures were performed to test the hypothesis that the ECM regulates follicle maturation in a manner that is dependent on both the ECM identity and the stage of follicle development. Immature mouse follicles were cultured within alginate-based matrices that were modified with specific ECM components (e.g., laminin) or RGD peptides. The matrix maintains the in vivo like morphology of the follicle and provides an environment that supports follicle development. The ECM components signal the somatic cells of the follicle, affecting their growth and differentiation, and unexpectedly also affect the meiotic competence of the oocyte. These effects depend upon both the identity of the ECM components and the initial stage of the follicle, indicating that the ECM is a dynamic regulator of follicle development. The development of synthetic matrices that promote follicle maturation to produce meiotically competent oocytes may provide a mechanism to preserve fertility, or more generally, provide design principles for scaffold-based approaches to tissue engineering.
细胞外基质（ECM）提供了一种三维结构，可促进和调节细胞黏附，并提供指导导致组织发育的细胞过程的信号。在本报告中，使用呈现特定ECM成分的合成基质，以卵巢卵泡成熟作为模型系统来研究这些信号对组织形成的影响。正在开发用于卵泡培养的体外系统以保存女性的生育能力，并进行培养以检验ECM以依赖于ECM特性和卵泡发育阶段的方式调节卵泡成熟的假说。将未成熟的小鼠卵泡培养在基于藻酸盐的基质中，这些基质用特定的ECM成分（如层粘连蛋白）或RGD肽进行了修饰。该基质维持卵泡的体内样形态，并提供支持卵泡发育的环境。ECM成分向卵泡的体细胞发出信号，影响其生长和分化，并且出乎意料地还影响卵母细胞的减数分裂能力。这些作用取决于ECM成分的特性和卵泡的初始阶段，表明ECM是卵泡发育的动态调节因子。促进卵泡成熟以产生具有减数分裂能力的卵母细胞的合成基质的开发可能提供一种保存生育能力的机制，或者更普遍地，为基于支架的组织工程方法提供设计原则。
