Fibrillins in adult human ovary and polycystic ovary syndrome: Is fibrillin-3 affected in PCOS?

C. Diana Jordan, Sandra D. Bohling, Noe L. Charbonneau, Lynn Y. Sakai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy in women of reproductive age. Although genetic linkage analyses have demonstrated a susceptibility locus for PCOS mapping to the fibrillin-3 gene, the presence of fibrillin proteins in normal and polycystic ovaries has not been characterized. This study compared and contrasted fibrillin-1, -2, and -3 localization in normal and polycystic ovaries. Immunohistochemical stainings of ovaries from 21 controls and 9 patients with PCOS were performed. Fibrillin-1 was ubiquitous in ovarian connective tissue. Fibrillin-2 localized around antral follicles and in areas of folliculolysis. Fibrillin-3 was present in a restricted distribution within the specialized perifollicular stroma of follicles in morphological transition from primordial to primary type [transitional follicles (TFs)]. Fibrillin-1 and -2 stainings of PCOS ovaries were similar to those of the controls. However, in eight of the nine PCOS ovaries, there was a decrease in the number of TFs associated with fibrillin-3, including no staining in five PCOS samples; decreased number of fibrillin-3-associated TFs/mm2 was confirmed by quantitative analysis. Our findings support a role for fibrillin-3 in the pathogenesis of PCOS and suggest fibrillin-3 may function in primordial to primary follicle transition. We propose that loss of fibrillin-3 during folliculogenesis may be an important factor in PCOS pathogenesis.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)903-915
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry
Volume58
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2010

Keywords

  • Fibrillin
  • Fibrillin-3
  • Folliculogenesis
  • Ovary
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anatomy
  • Histology

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