The impact of oocyte death on mouse primordial follicle formation and ovarian reserve

BACKGROUND: Ovaries, the source of oocytes, maintain the numbers of primordial follicles, develop oocytes for fertilization and embryonic development. Although it is well known that about two‐thirds of oocytes are lost during the formation of primordial follicles through cyst fragmentation and the aggregation of oocytes within the cyst, the mechanism responsible for this remains unclear. METHODS: We provide an overview of cell death that is associated with the oocyte cyst breakdown and primordial follicle assembly along with our recent findings for mice that had been treated with a TNFα ligand inhibitor. MAIN FINDINGS: It is generally accepted that apoptosis is the major mechanism responsible for the depletion of germ cells. In fact, a gene deficiency or the overexpression of apoptosis regulators can have a great effect on follicle numbers and/or fertility. Apoptosis, however, may not be the only cause of the large‐scale oocyte attrition during oocyte cyst breakdown, and other mechanisms, such as aggregation, may also be involved in this process. CONCLUSION: The continued study of oocyte death during primordial follicle formation could lead to the development of novel strategies for manipulating the primordial follicle pool, leading to improved fertility by enhancing the ovarian reserve.