First Transplantation of Isolated Murine Follicles in Alginate

Abstract

Aim: Our aim is to develop an artificial ovary allowing survival and growth of isolated follicles and ovarian cells, to restore fertility in women diagnosed with pathologies at high risk of ovarian involvement. Materials & methods: For this, alginate beads containing isolated preantral follicles and ovarian cells were autografted to immunocompetent mice. One week after grafting, the beads were invaded by proliferating murine cells (12.1%) and capillaries. Results: The recovery rate of follicles per graft ranged from 0% to 35.5%. Of the analyzed follicles, 77% were Ki67-positive and 81%, TUNEL-negative. Three antral follicles were also identified, evidencing their ability to grow in the matrix. Conclusion: Our results suggest that an artificial ovary is now conceivable, opening new perspectives to restore fertility in women.

Keywords::

• alginate
• artificial ovary
• cancer
• degradation
• isolated preantral follicles
• ovarian cells

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mira Hryniuk for reviewing the manuscript, Dolores Gonzalez and Olivier Van Kerk for their technical assistance.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The present study was supported by grants from the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique (grant Télévie N– 7.4507.10, grant 3.4.590.08 awarded to M-M Dolmans), the Fonds Spéciaux de Recherche, the Fondation St Luc and the Foundation Against Cancer, and donations from Mr Pietro Ferrero, Baron Frère and Viscount Philippe de Spoelberch.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

Approval for this study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University of Louvain (ref. 2014/UCL/MD/007). The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations.

Additional information

Funding

The present study was supported by grants from the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique (grant Télévie N– 7.4507.10, grant 3.4.590.08 awarded to M-M Dolmans), the Fonds Spéciaux de Recherche, the Fondation St Luc and the Foundation Against Cancer, and donations from Mr Pietro Ferrero, Baron Frère and Viscount Philippe de Spoelberch. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.