Figure 1

Representative micrograph of immunostaining for vWF, Ki-67 and α-SMA in pre- and periovulatory follicles. In the left panel (A, B, C) intrafollicular distribution of vWF (red stain), an endothelial marker, and Ki-67 (green stain), a cellular proliferative marker that were revealed using a double immunohistochemical technique. The cell nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue stain) to visualize the tissue morphology and to identify the follicular compartments. In the right panel (A', B', C') intrafollicular distribution of vWF (brown stain) and α-SMA (black stain) was assessed, by using a double immunohistochemistry. Preovulatory follicles were isolated 60 h after eCG (A, A'), and periovulatory follicles were isolated 18 h (B, B') and 36 h after hCG (C, C'). White arrows and white arrowheads indicate proliferating endothelial cells in the inner and outer network, respectively. In periovulatory follicles black arrows indicate single α-SMA immunopositive cells. G = granulosa compartment; TI and TE = inner and external (outer) theca compartment, respectively; CM = capsule of smooth muscular fibres. Bar = 100 μm.