Hormonal regulation of apoptosis an ovarian perspective.

Using the ovary as a model system for studying the hormonal regulation of apoptosis, recent studies have revealed that the survival of growing follicles is under the regulation of a complex array of hormones through endocrine, paracrine, autocrine, or juxtacrine mechanism in a development-dependent manner. More effort is needed, however, to identify tissue-specific factors required for the survival of ovarian somatic and germ cells at specific stage of development. New insights based on characterization of conserved apoptotic effectors, both extracellular and intracellular, have suggested that apoptosis in ovarian cells may be mediated by apoptotic programs common to other cells but using specific members of the death domain proteins as well as ced-9/Bcl-2 and ced-3/ICE caspase families of genes. Future studies may provide new therapeutic modalities for different ovarian diseases caused by aberrant regulation of apoptosis in ovarian cells, including premature ovarian failure and polycystic ovarian syndrome. (Trends Endocrinol Metab 1997;8:207-213). (c) 1997, Elsevier Science Inc.