'Artificial Ovary' Develops Oocytes Into Mature Human Eggs
ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2010) — Researchers at Brown University and Women & Infants Hospital have invented the first artificial human ovary, an advance that provides a potentially powerful new means for conducting fertility research and could also yield infertility treatments for cancer patients. The team has already used the lab-grown organ to mature human eggs.
An artificial ovary An engineered honeycomb of cultured theca cells (top row) envelopes spheres of granulosa cells (GC). The bottom row shows the tissue after 48 hours (left) and after five days. (Credit: Carson Lab / Brown University)
"An ovary is composed of three main cell types, and this is the first time that anyone has created a 3-D tissue structure with triple cell line," said Sandra Carson, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Women & Infants Hospital. Carson is a senior author of a recent article in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics that describes the innovation.
Carson said that the ovary not only provides a living laboratory for investigating fundamental questions about how healthy ovaries work, but also can act as a testbed for seeing how problems, such as exposure to toxins or other chemicals, can disrupt egg maturation and health.
Clinically, the artificial ovary could play a role in preserving the fertility of women facing cancer treatment in the future, said Stephan Krotz, a Houston fertility doctor who is the paper's lead author and a former fellow in Carson's lab. Immature eggs could be salvaged and frozen before the onset of chemotherapy or radiation, he said, and then matured outside the patient in the artificial ovary.
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JOURNAL OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION AND GENETICS
TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS
In vitro maturation of oocytes via the pre-fabricated self-assembled artificial human ovary
Stephan P. Krotz, Jared C. Robins, Toni-Marie Ferruccio, Richard Moore, Margaret M. Steinhoff, Jeffrey R. Morgan and Sandra Carson
Abstract
Purpose
Create a 3-Dimensional artificial human ovary to mature human oocytes.
Methods
Theca and granulosa cells were isolated from antral follicles of reproductive-aged women, seeded into micro-molded gels and self-assembled into complex 3D microtissues. Immunohistochemistry and live-dead staining confirmed theca cell identity and cellular viability at one week respectively. Placement of granulosa cell spheroids or cumulus-oocyte complexes into theca cell honeycomb openings resulted in creation of an artificial human ovary. Oocytes from this construct were assessed for polar body extrusion.
Results
Theca and granulosa cells self-assembled into complex microtissues, remaining viable for one week. At 72 h after artificial human ovary construction, theca cells completely surrounded the granulosa spheroids or COCs without stromal invasion or disruption. Polar body extrusion occurred in one of three COCs assessed.
Conclusions
An artifical human ovary can be created with self-assembled human theca and granulosa cell microtissues, and used for IVM and future oocyte toxicology studies.
Keywords Artificial ovary - In vitro maturation - Oocytes - Self-assembly - Theca cells - Tissue engineering
Capsule An artificial human ovary can be created using self-assembled 3-dimensional theca & granulosa cell constructs to mature human oocytes in vitro
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