Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Human germ cells develop in synchronised nests in the fetal ovary, interspersed with somatic cells prior to reorganisation to form primordial follicles. We have isolated several somatic cell lines from disaggregated human fetal ovaries as a model for understanding their contribution to the germ cell niche. Fetal dysregulation of TGFβ signalling has been linked with fibrosis in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): effects of TGFβ on extracellular matrix (EC...