Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Original Paper Cells Tissues Organs 2012;195:260–271 DOI: 10.1159/000325150 Dynamic Medium Containing Kit Ligand and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Promotes Follicular Survival, Activation, and Growth during Long-Term in vitro Culture of Caprine Preantral Follicles I.M.T. Lima a J.J.H. Celestino a L.R. Faustino a D.M. Magalhães-Padilha a R. Rossetto a I.R. Brito a M.A.M. Donato b C.A.P. Lopes a C.C. Campello a C.A. Peixoto b J.R. Figueiredo a A.P.R. Rodrigues a a Laboratory of Manipulation of Oocytes and Preantral Follicles (LAMOFOPA), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, State University of Ceará, Fortaleza, and b Laboratory of Ultrastructure, CPqAM/Fiocruz, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil treatments. The highest follicular diameter after 16 days was observed in follicles cultured with KL until day 8 followed by FSH (KL/FSH). Furthermore, this treatment promoted, as ear- ly as after 1 day of culture, an increase in oocyte growth com- pared to -MEM + alone. Ultrastructural analysis confirmed the integrity of follicles cultured in KL/FSH after 16 days. In conclusion, a dynamic medium containing KL and FSH main- tained follicular integrity and promoted follicular activation and growth during the long-term in vitro culture of caprine preantral follicles. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel Key Words Kit ligand  Follicle-stimulating hormone  Follicular development  Goat Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a dynam- ic medium containing kit ligand (KL) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on the in vitro culture of caprine preantral follicles for 16 days. Ovarian fragments were cultured in - MEM + containing or not containing KL (50 ng/ml) and/or FSH (50 ng/ml) added during the first (days 0–8) and/or second half (days 8–16) of the culture period. Noncultured (control) and cultured fragments were processed for histological and ultrastructural evaluation. After 1 day of culture, only the treatments performed with KL or FSH maintained a percent- age of normal follicles similar to that of the control. After 16 days, all treatments using KL until day 8 (KL/KL, KL/FSH, and KL/FSH+KL) and only FSH during the entire culture period (FSH/FSH) showed higher rates of follicular survival com- pared to -MEM + alone. After 1 and 8 days, the treatments initially cultured with KL increased the percentage of follic- ular activation in comparison to -MEM + alone and other Accepted after revision: February 8, 2011 Published online: April 14, 2011 Dr. Isadora Machado Teixeira Lima Laboratório de Manipulação de Oócitos e Folículos Pré-Antrais (LAMOFOPA) Universidade Estadual do Ceará (UECE), Av. Paranjana, 1700, Campus do Itaperi Fortaleza, CE 60740-930 (Brazil) Tel. +55 85 3101 9852, E-Mail dora.uece  @  gmail.com © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel 1422–6405/11/1953–0260$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/cto Abbreviations used in this paper ANOVA analysis of variance BSA bovine serum albumin FSH follicle-stimulating hormone ITS insulin-transferrin-selenium KL kit ligand MEM minimum essential medium SEM standard error of the mean