Table III.

Potential follicular cells biomarkers correlated to oocyte quality, embryo competence or pregnancy outcome. CCs: cumulus cells, GCs: granulosa cells

Biomarkers	Name	Function	Samples (individual or pooled)	Approches	Outcome	Reference
PTX3	Pentraxin-3	involved in inflammatory reaction processes and acts to stabilize the expanded CCs	Pooled CCs from eggs	Microarrays (4 chips)	Positively correlated with oocyte competence	(Zhang, X. et al., 2005)
PCK1, BCL2L11, NFIB	Phosphoenolpyru vate carboxykinase 1, BCL2-like 11 (apoptosis facilitator), Nuclear factor I/B	PCK1: associated with energy production BCL2L11: involved in triggering cell death in response to abnormalities NFIB: regulates some of the earliest processes in embryonic development	CCs from individual eggs	Microarrays (50 chips)	Predict embryo and pregnancy outcomes	(Assou et al., 2008)
CYP19A1, SERPINE2, CDC42, FDX1	Cytochrome P450, family 19, subfamily A, polypeptide 1, Serpin peptidase inhibitor clade E member 2, Cell division cycle 42, Ferredoxin 1	CYP19A1: metabolizes androgen into estradiol- 17β SERPINE2: involved in apoptosis and chromatin condensation CDC42: involved in apoptosis, transcriptional activation, cell proliferation and cell polarity FDX1 and HSD3B1: responsible for progesterone synthesis	Mural GCs and CCs (pooled)	Microarrays (4 chips)	Positively associated with pregnancy	(Hamel et al., 2008)
CCND2, CXCR4, GPX3, HSPB1, DVL3, DHCR7, CTNND1, TRIM28	Cyclin D2, Chemokine (C-X- C motif) receptor 4, Glutathione peroxidase 3, Heat shock protein 1, Dishevelled, dsh homolog 3 7- dehydrocholestero l reductase, Catenin, delta 1, Tripartite motif- containing 28	CCND2: plays an role in proliferation of cells (cell cycle regulator) CXCR4 and GPX3: have a role in relieve hypoxic stress HSPB1: act as co- repressor of estrogen signaling DVL3: plays a role in angiogenesis DHCR7: involved in progesterone and estrogen synthesis CTNND1: has a role in adhesion TRIM28: has a role in DNA repair	CCs from individual eggs	Microarrays (16 chips)	Negatively associated with oocyte competence	(van Montfoort et al., 2008)
HAS2, GREM1	Hyaluronan synthase 2, Gremlin 1	HAS2: involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) formation GREM1: antagonist of BMP and TGF-β	CCs from individual eggs	RT-PCR	Positively associated with oocyte developmental competence	(Cillo et al., 2007)
STAR, AREG, Cx43, PTGS2, SCD1 and SCD5	Steroidogenic acute regulatory protein, Amphiregulin, Connexin 43, Prostaglandin- endoperoxide synthase 2 Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 and 5	STAR: regulated the cholesterol transport into the inner mitochondrial AREG: act as mediators of LH Cx43: permit the transfer of metabolits for growth and development and maintenance of meiotic arrest of the oocyte PTGS2: involved in inflammation and mitogenesis SCD: involved in biosynthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated acids	CCs from individual eggs	RT-PCR	Negatively associated with oocyte competence	(Feuerstein et al., 2007)
HAS2, PTGS2, GREM1	Hyaluronan synthase 2, Prostaglandin- endoperoxide synthase 2, Gremlin 1		CCs from individual eggs	Quantitative RT-PCR	Positively associated with Oocyte competence and embryo development	(McKenzie et al., 2004)
BDNF, GREM1	Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, Gremlin 1	BDNF: neurotrophic factor playing a role in regulation of stress response	CCs from individual eggs	Quantitative RT-PCR	negative and positive predictors of embryo quality respectively	Anderson et al., 2009)
PGK1, RGS2 and RGS3, CDC42	Phosphoglycerate kinase 1, Regulator of G- protein signaling 2 and 3, Cell division cycle 42	PGK1: involved in glycolysis RGS: hydrolyzed GTP to GDP	Mural GCs and CCs (individual)	Quantitative RT-PCR	Associated with pregnancy	Hamel et al., 2010)
VCAN, RPS6KA2, ALCAM, GREM1	Versican, Ribosomal protein S6 kinase polypeptide 2, Activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule, Gremlin 1	VCAN: plays a central role in tissue morphogenesis and maintenance RPSK6KA2: involved in the EGF signaling cascade ALCAM: involved in immune response	Pooled CCs from eggs	Quantitative RT-PCR	Correlated with oocyte maturity, low fragmentation and embryo development	Adriaenssen s et al., 2010)