Human theca arises from ovarian stroma and is comprised of three discrete subtypes. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Theca cells serve multiple essential functions during the growth and maturation of ovarian follicles, providing structural, metabolic, and steroidogenic support. While the function of theca during folliculogenesis is well established, their cellular origins and the differentiation hierarchy that generates distinct theca sub-types, remain unknown. Here, we performed single cell multi-omics analysis of primary cell populations purified from human antral stage follicles (1-3 mm) to define the differentiation trajectory of theca/stroma cells. We then corroborated the temporal emergence and growth kinetics of defined theca/stroma subpopulations using human ovarian tissue samples and xenografts of cryopreserved/thawed ovarian cortex, respectively. We identified three lineage specific derivatives termed structural, androgenic, and perifollicular theca cells, as well as their putative lineage-negative progenitor. These findings provide a framework for understanding the differentiation process that occurs in each primordial follicle and identifies specific cellular/molecular phenotypes that may be relevant to either diagnosis or treatment of ovarian pathologies.

publication date

  • January 4, 2023

Research

keywords

  • Granulosa Cells
  • Ovarian Follicle

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC9812973

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85145514742

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.12.020

PubMed ID

  • 36599970

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 6

issue

  • 1