Integration of mouse ovary morphogenesis with developmental dynamics of the oviduct, ovarian ligaments, and rete ovarii

  1. Jennifer McKey
  2. Dilara N Anbarci
  3. Corey Bunce
  4. Alejandra E Ontiveros
  5. Richard Behringer
  6. Blanche Capel  Is a corresponding author
  1. Duke University, United States
  2. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States

Abstract

Morphogenetic events during development of the fetal ovary are crucial to the establishment of female fertility. However, the effects of structural rearrangements of the ovary and surrounding reproductive tissues on ovary morphogenesis remain largely uncharacterized. Using tissue clearing and lightsheet microscopy, we found that ovary folding correlated with regionalization into cortex and medulla. Relocation of the oviduct to the ventral aspect of the ovary led to ovary encapsulation, and mutual attachment of the ovary and oviduct to the cranial suspensory ligament likely triggered ovary folding. During this process, the rete ovarii elaborated into a convoluted tubular structure extending from the ovary into the ovarian capsule. Using genetic mouse models in which the oviduct and rete ovarii are perturbed, we found the oviduct is required for ovary encapsulation. This study reveals novel relationships among the ovary and surrounding tissues and paves the way for functional investigation of the relationship between architecture and differentiation of the mammalian ovary.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and/or supplementary materials.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Jennifer McKey

    Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-2640-1502
  2. Dilara N Anbarci

    Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Corey Bunce

    Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Alejandra E Ontiveros

    Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Richard Behringer

    Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Blanche Capel

    Department of Cell Biology, Duke University, Durham, United States
    For correspondence
    blanche.capel@duke.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-6587-0969

Funding

National Institutes of Health (1R01HD090050-0)

  • Dilara N Anbarci
  • Blanche Capel

National Institutes of Health (R37HD30284)

  • Alejandra E Ontiveros
  • Richard Behringer

National Institutes of Health (R37HD039963)

  • Corey Bunce

National Institutes of Health (K99HD103778)

  • Jennifer McKey

American Cancer Society (130426-PF-17-209-01-TBG)

  • Jennifer McKey

National Institutes of Health (1S10OD020010-01A1)

  • Jennifer McKey
  • Dilara N Anbarci
  • Corey Bunce
  • Blanche Capel

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Sofia J Araujo, University of Barcelona, Spain

Ethics

Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All experiments were conducted with the approval of the Duke University Medical Center Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC protocol # A089-20-04 9N).

Version history

  1. Preprint posted: May 22, 2021 (view preprint)
  2. Received: June 15, 2022
  3. Accepted: September 26, 2022
  4. Accepted Manuscript published: September 27, 2022 (version 1)
  5. Version of Record published: October 31, 2022 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2022, McKey et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Jennifer McKey
  2. Dilara N Anbarci
  3. Corey Bunce
  4. Alejandra E Ontiveros
  5. Richard Behringer
  6. Blanche Capel
(2022)
Integration of mouse ovary morphogenesis with developmental dynamics of the oviduct, ovarian ligaments, and rete ovarii
eLife 11:e81088.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81088

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81088

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