China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2021, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (3): 963-974.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2021.03.020

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Advances on Critical Signaling Pathway in the Development of Sheep Follicles

CHEN Xin1,2, DA Lai2, FU Shaoyin2, QI Yunxia2, WANG Biao2, HE Xiaolong2, MA Yuejun2, FANG Qinyuan1,2, ZHANG Lin1,2, JIA Mingrui1,2, DONG Peng1,2, LIU Yongbin2   

  1. 1. College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China;
    2. Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural&Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
  • Received:2020-07-20 Online:2021-03-20 Published:2021-03-18

Abstract: The entire development process of a follicle is precisely regulated,which includes primary follicles to mature follicles,ovulation and corpus luteum development.It is critical to produce large quantity of superior follicles for multiple births and rapid reproduction.It was found that through impacting the growth of oocyte and granulosa cells in sheep follicles,the associated signal pathways and transcription factors in turn regulate the growth and maturity of follicles.Further understanding of these signal pathways is useful for investigating the regulatory mechanism of follicular development.In addition,high efficiency of sheep breeding and reproduction can be achieved as soon as possible.Notch is a highly conservative signaling pathway that plays an important role in the development of follicles.The PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway is widely present in cells.Each member of this pathway is a signal transduction molecule and has a huge impact in the early stage of follicular development.Physical junctions such as gap junction (GJ) and transzonal projections (TZPs) play an important role in signal communication between cells.This article elaborated the regulatory function of Notch signaling pathway,PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway,gap junctions and transzonal projections in the development of sheep follicles,which would provide a reference for further exploring the regulatory mechanism of sheep follicle development.

Key words: sheep; follicular development; Notch signaling pathway; PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway; gap junction; transzonal projections

CLC Number: