Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of estradiol(E₂)on estrogen receptor-β(ER-β)and forkhead transcription factor 3(FoxO3)expression in the proliferation and apoptosis of human granulosa cells during ovarian stimulation. Methods Ovarian granulosa cells in healthy ovarian follicles were cultured in TCM199 medium supplemented with 1 μmol /L E₂, and 100 nmol/L ICI182.780. The proliferation of ovarian granulosa cells was detected with WST. The ER-β and FoxO3 mRNA expressions in granulosa cells were determined with RT-PCR and real-time PCR. The ER-β and FoxO3 protein expressions were assessed with immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Results E₂ significantly improved while ICI182.780 inhibited the proliferation of ovarian granulosa cells. Real-time PCR results indicated that the ER-β mRNA expression was downregulated, while FoxO3 mRNA expression was upregulated(P<0.05). Western 山 东 大 学 学 报 (医 学 版)54卷5期 -马会明,等.雌激素对卵巢颗粒细胞雌激素受体-β和转录因子叉头蛋白3表达的影响 \=-blotting results showed that changes of ER-β and FoxO3 protein expressions were statistically significant(P<0.05). Grey level analysis showed that ER-β protein expression increased and FoxO3 protein expression was reduced with addition of E₂(P<0.05), while ER-β protein expression decreased and FoxO3 protein expression increased with addition of ICI182.780(P<0.05). Conclusion E₂ can affect the proliferation and apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells by increasing ER-β expression while decreasing FoxO3 expression.

Key words: Estradiol, Estrogen receptor-β, Forkhead transcription factor 3, Ovarian granulosa cells