Roles of the ovarian surface epithelium in ovulation and carcinogenesis

Although ovarian mechanisms of ovulation have been a subject of investigation for more than a century, essential regulatory pathways remain uncertain. A role for the ovarian surface epithelium in ovulation has recently been demonstrated. Ovarian surface epithelial cells in close contact with the apical wall of preovulatory ovine follicles secrete a urokinase-type plasminogen activator in response to surge concentrations of (locally delivered) gonadotrophins. Urokinase activates latent collagenases and stimulates release of tumour necrosis factor alpha from thecal endothelium. Tumour necrosis factor alpha progressively induces matrix metalloproteinase gene expression, apoptosis and inflammatory necrosis. Collagenolysis and cellular death are a prelude to stigma formation and ovarian rupture. Epithelium exfoliated from the dome of ovulatory follicles is replenished by generative stem cell replication and migration from the wound edges. Common epithelial ovarian cancer has been related to successive bouts of ovulation and mitosis. The integrity of the DNA of surface cells circumjacent to the ovarian rupture site is compromised during the ovulatory process. Clonal expansion of an epithelial cell with damaged (unrepaired) DNA is a putative factor in carcinogenesis. Ovarian cancer is a deadly insidious disease because typically it is asymptomatic until the malignancy has reached beyond the ovaries.

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