Induction of maturation in rat follicle-enclosed oocyte by forskolin.

The diterpene forskolin, which was found to be a potent and reversible activator of adenylate cyclase in intact tissues as well as in broken cell preparations, was employed to investigate the role of cAMP in the induction of oocyte maturation. We have found that forskolin can mimic the effect of LH on the ovarian follicle stimulating both cAMP accumulation and oocyte maturation. These findings suggest that LH-induced maturation in follicle-enclosed oocytes is a cAMP-mediated response.