Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 8 pp 7313—7333

Estrogen regulation of germline stem cell differentiation as a mechanism contributing to female reproductive aging

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Figure 8. Enhancement of OSC differentiation by RA requires repression of DNA methyltransferase activity. (A, B) Levels of Stra8 mRNA (A) and numbers of IVD-oocytes generated (B) in cultures of OSCs treated with vehicle (V), E2 (10 nM) or RA (2 μM) for 8 hours (mean ± SEM, n = 3 independent cultures; *P<0.05). (C) Levels of CD38 mRNA in OSCs cultured with vehicle (V), E2 (10 nM) or RA (2 μM) for 8 hours (mean ± SEM, n = 3 independent cultures; *P<0.05). (D) In-silico analysis of the Stra8 genomic sequence (transcription start site indicated by arrowhead), identifying a CpG island spanning 386-bp (highlighted by the yellow bar). (E, F) Levels of Stra8 mRNA (E) and numbers of IVD-oocytes generated (F) in cultures of OSCs treated without or with 2-μM RA for 8 hours after a 4-hour pretreatment without or with 50-μM EGCG (–, without; +, with) (mean ± SEM, n = 6 independent cultures; **P<0.01).