Theca cells (TCs) play an important role in follicular development, which cannot be separated from granulosa cells (GCs). However, compared with mammals, the TCs and the effects of GCs on TCs at different follicular development stages (FDSs) have specific characteristics in avian species, but none of them have been clearly defined. In this study, we established an in vitro co‐culture (with GC at the corresponding stage) model of goose TCs at different FDSs (pre‐hierarchical, hierarchical and F1) by using a transwell system. The properties of TCs in co‐culture at the three FDSs, including cell morphology, activity and intracellular lipid content, as well as the expression of key genes involved in de novo lipogenesis, steroidogenesis, proliferation and apoptosis, were examined and defined. We further compared the mono‐culture and co‐culture groups. After co‐culture, the activity of TCs showed significant (p < .01) increases in all stages; moreover, in pre‐hierarchical TCs, the expression levels of FAS, SREBP, 3β‐HSD and CCND1 were promoted, and PPARγ, CYP19, BCL2 and CAS3 were inhibited (p < .05); in the hierarchical TCs, the expression levels of PPARγ, FAS, CYP19, CCND1 and BCL2 were promoted, and SREBP, STAR, 3β‐HSD and CAS3 were inhibited (p < .05), whereas in the F1 TCs, the expression levels of PPARγ, FAS, 3β‐HSD, CYP19 and CCND1 were promoted, and STAR and CAS3 were inhibited (p < .05). These results suggested that GCs at the three FDSs have dynamic and complex influences on the physiological characteristics of TCs, and the influences on TCs at the three FDSs were varied.

中文翻译：

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共培养模型揭示了卵泡发育不同阶段的卵泡膜细胞特征和颗粒细胞对卵泡膜细胞的影响

卵泡膜细胞（TCs）在卵泡发育中起着重要作用，无法与颗粒细胞（GCs）分离。但是，与哺乳动物相比，TC和GC在不同卵泡发育阶段（FDSs）上对TC的影响在禽类中具有特定的特征，但尚未明确定义它们。在这项研究中，我们通过使用Transwell系统建立了在不同FDS（分层前，分层和F1）的鹅TC的体外共培养（在相应阶段具有GC）模型。检查并确定了三种FDS共同培养中TC的特性，包括细胞形态，活性和细胞内脂质含量，以及涉及新生脂肪形成，类固醇生成，增殖和凋亡的关键基因的表达。我们进一步比较了单文化和共文化群体。p  <.01）在所有阶段都增加；此外，在分级前TCs中，FAS，SREBP，3β-HSD和CCND1的表达水平升高，而PPARγ，CYP19，BCL2和CAS3受到抑制（p  <.05）；在分级TCs中，PPARγ，FAS，CYP19，CCND1和BCL2的表达水平升高，而SREBP，STAR，3β-HSD和CAS3的表达受到抑制（p <.05），而在F1 TC中，PPARγ，FAS，3β-HSD，CYP19和CCND1的表达水平得到提高，而STAR和CAS3被抑制（p  <.05）。这些结果表明，三个FDS上的GC对TC的生理特性具有动态和复杂的影响，并且三个FDS上对TC的影响各不相同。