ABSTRACT
Nucleotide derivatives, such as 8-bromo guanosine 3¢,5¢-cyclic monophosphate (8Br-cGMP) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), are important intracellular secondary messengers that might also be involved in the activation of primordial follicles30,31,36. GC from isolated porcine primary follicles proliferated in culture with the addition of 8Br-cAMP36. Slices of human ovaries cultured with 8Br-cGMP30 or cAMP31 showed increased growth to secondary stages; the proportion of viable follicles increased significantly in parallel with a decrease in atresia rates. 8Br-GMP also induced an increase in estradiol production in spent media samples, presumably because of the concurrent increase in the proportion of secondary follicles. However, these secondary follicles were smaller than those developed in vivo.
