Abstract
In mammals, progressive activation of primordial follicles is essential for maintenance of the reproductive lifespan. Several reports have demonstrated that mitogen-activated protein kinases 3 and 1 (MAPK3/1)–mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling in pre-granulosa cells promotes primordial follicle activation by increasing KIT ligand (KITL) expression and then stimulating phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase signaling in oocytes. However, the mechanism of mTORC1 signaling in the promotion of KITL expression is unclear. Immunofluorescence staining results showed that phosphorylated cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB) was mainly expressed in pre-granulosa cells. The CREB inhibitor KG-501 and CREB knockdown by Creb siRNA significantly suppressed primordial follicle activation, reduced pre-granulosa cell proliferation and dramatically increased oocyte apoptosis. Western blotting results demonstrated that both the MAPK3/1 inhibitor U0126 and mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin significantly decreased the levels of phosphorylated CREB, indicating that MAPK3/1–mTORC1 signaling is required for CREB activation. Furthermore, CREB could bind to the Kitl promoter region, and KG-501 significantly decreased the expression levels of KITL. In addition, KG-501 and CREB knockdown significantly decreased the levels of phosphorylated Akt, leading to a reduced number of oocytes with Foxo3a nuclear export. KG-501 also inhibited bpV (HOpic)-stimulated primordial follicle activation. Taken together, the results show that CREB is required for MAPK3/1–mTORC1 signaling-promoted KITL expression followed by the activation of primordial follicles.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFC1002002 and 2018YFC1003801), the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (31425024), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771658).
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JL and MZ designed the work. JL, YZ, NZ, BL, and JY performed the experiments. JL, MZ, GX and CZ analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors have revised and accepted the final version.
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Li, J., Zhang, Y., Zheng, N. et al. CREB activity is required for mTORC1 signaling-induced primordial follicle activation in mice. Histochem Cell Biol 154, 287–299 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-020-01888-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-020-01888-4