Figure 5.

Pup starvation impairs germ cell cyst breakdown and follicle assembly. (a) Representative IF for the germ cell marker MVH in tissue sections of 3 d.p.p. ovaries from control and starved pups. Note that while in the control ovary, the most part of oocytes are formed cortical and medullary PFs, those in the starved ovary remained in cortical cysts. Scale bars: 100 μm. (b) Quantification of the number of oocytes in cysts and in follicles in 3 d.p.p. control and starved ovaries. (c) Representative IF for the oocyte-specific transcription factor NOBOX in tissue sections of 3 d.p.p. ovaries from control and starved pups. Scale bars: 100 μm. (d) Percentage of oocyte showing strong NOBOX staining in ovary tissue sections. (e) Quantitative RT-PCR for Nobox mRNA levels in control and starved ovaries. (f) Level of NOBOX protein in control and starved ovaries. The results are presented as mean±S.D. All the experiments were repeated at least three times. *P<0.05; **P<0.01