TY - JOUR TI - The transcription factor FOXL2 mobilizes estrogen signaling to maintain the identity of ovarian granulosa cells AU - Georges, Adrien AU - L'Hôte, David AU - Todeschini, Anne Laure AU - Auguste, Aurélie AU - Legois, Bérangère AU - Zider, Alain AU - Veitia, Reiner A A2 - Rossant, Janet VL - 3 PY - 2014 DA - 2014/11/04 SP - e04207 C1 - eLife 2014;3:e04207 DO - 10.7554/eLife.04207 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04207 AB - FOXL2 is a lineage determining transcription factor in the ovary, but its direct targets and modes of action are not fully characterized. In this study, we explore the targets of FOXL2 and five nuclear receptors in murine primary follicular cells. We found that FOXL2 is required for normal gene regulation by steroid receptors, and we show that estrogen receptor beta (ESR2) is the main vector of estradiol signaling in these cells. Moreover, we found that FOXL2 directly modulates Esr2 expression through a newly identified intronic element. Interestingly, we found that FOXL2 repressed the testis-determining gene Sox9 both independently of estrogen signaling and through the activation of ESR2 expression. Altogether, we show that FOXL2 mobilizes estrogen signaling to establish a coherent feed-forward loop repressing Sox9. This sheds a new light on the role of FOXL2 in ovarian maintenance and function. KW - ovary KW - cell identity KW - transcription factor KW - FOXL2 KW - estrogen KW - estrogen receptor JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -