Expression of genes involved in neurogenesis, and neuronal precursor cell proliferation and development: Novel pathways of human ovarian granulosa cell differentiation and transdifferentiation capability in vitro

The process of neural tissue formation is associated primarily with the course of neurogenesis during embryonic life. The source of neural-like cells is stem cells, which, under the influence of appropriate differentiating factors, may differentiate/transdifferentiate towards a neural-like lineage. The present study suggested that, under long-term in vitro culture conditions, human ovarian granulosa cells (GCs), obtained from granulosa-rich follicular fluid, acquired new properties and expressed genes characteristic of the ontological groups ‘neurogenesis’ (GO:0022008), ‘neuronal precursor cell proliferation’ (GO:0061351) and ‘nervous system development’ (GO:0007399), which are closely related to the formation of neurons. The present study collected GCs from 20 women referred for the procedure of in vitro fertilization. Cells were maintained in long-term in vitro culture for 30 days, and RNA was isolated after 1, 7, 15 and 30 days of culture. The expression profile of individual genes was determined using the Affymetrix microarray method. The 131 genes with the highest expression change in relation to day 1 of culture were then selected; the 10 most affected genes found to be primarily involved in nerve cell formation processes were chosen for consideration in this study: CLDN11, OXTR, DFNA5, ATP8B1, ITGA3, CD9, FRY, NANOS1, CRIM1 and NTN4. The results of the present study revealed that these genes may be considered potential markers of the uninduced differentiation potential of GCs. In addition, it was suggested that GCs may be used to develop a cell line showing neuronal characteristics after 30 days of cultivation. In addition, due to their potential, these cells could possibly be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, not only in the form of ‘cultured neurons’ but also as producers of factors involved in the regeneration of the nervous system.