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Science 20 August 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5687, pp. 1157 - 1159
DOI: 10.1126/science.1099755
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Reports

NOBOX Deficiency Disrupts Early Folliculogenesis and Oocyte-Specific Gene Expression

Aleksandar Rajkovic,1* Stephanie A. Pangas,2,4 Daniel Ballow,1 Nobuhiro Suzumori,2 Martin M. Matzuk2,3,4

Primordial ovarian follicles in mice form when somatic cells surround individual oocytes. We show that lack of Nobox, an oocyte-specific homeobox gene, accelerates postnatal oocyte loss and abolishes the transition from primordial to growing follicles in mice. Follicles are replaced by fibrous tissue in female mice lacking Nobox in a manner similar to nonsyndromic ovarian failure in women. Genes preferentially expressed in oocytes, including Oct4 and Gdf9, are down-regulated in Nobox–/– mice, whereas ubiquitous genes such as Bmp4, Kit, and Bax remain unaffected. Therefore, Nobox is critical for specifying an oocyte-restricted gene expression pattern essential for postnatal follicle development.

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
2 Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
3 Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
4 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rajkovic{at}bcm.tmc.edu

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