Tissue Eng Regen Med.  2022 Aug;19(4):675-685. 10.1007/s13770-021-00424-2.

Identification of Stem Cell-Like Cells in the Ovary

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Premedicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 103 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea
  • 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Korea
  • 3Institute of Reproductive Medicine and Population, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, 71 Ihwajang-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Korea

Abstract

Understanding the function of stem cells and cellular microenvironments in in vitro oogenesis, including ovarian folliculogenesis, is crucial for reproductive biology. Because mammalian females cannot generate oocytes after birth, the number of oocyte decreases with the progression of reproductive age. Meanwhile, there is an emerging need for the neogenesis of female germ cells to treat the increasing infertility-related issues in cancer survivors. The concept of oocytes neogenesis came from the promising results of stem cells in reproductive medicine. The stem cells that generate oocytes are defined as stem cell-like cells in the ovary (OSCs). Several recent studies have focused on the origin, isolation, and characteristic of OSCs and the differentiation of OSCs into oocytes, ovarian follicles and granulosa cells. Hence, in this review, we focus on the experimental trends in OSC research and discuss the methods of OSC isolation. We further summarized the characteristics of OSCs and discuss the markers used to identify OSCs differentiated from various cell sources. We believe that this review will be beneficial for advancing the research and clinical applications of OSCs.

Keyword

Stem cell-like cells; Ovary; Oocyte neogenesis
Full Text Links
  • TERM
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr