Figure 17

Influence of the presence vs. absence of OSC in the ovary on ovarian cultures. Occurrence of OSC in pre- and postmenopausal ovaries (A-C); note a lack of adult primordial follicles in all samples. A) Staining for CK with hematoxylin counterstain shows CK+ OSC (arrowhead) in the ovary of 36 years old woman (F36). B) Ovary of 50 years old women without OSC. C) Activity of the TA (white arrowhead) with OSC in 55 year old ovary. The OSC is also present in the cortical crypt (yellow arrowhead) in the deeper cortex. (D-G) Phase contrast from live day 6 primary ovarian cultures (d6pc). D) Ovarian culture of a 50 year old female shows only narrow fibroblasts (note lack of OSC in panel B). E) Cluster of epithelial type cells in culture from a 55 year old female (note OSC in panel C). F) Detail from another cluster of epithelial cells shows small (30 micrometers) round oocyte type cell (arrowhead) with a prominent nucleus. G) Large (120 micrometers) round oocyte type cell with germinal vesicle (gv) and thickened plasma membrane (arrowhead).