# NEURAL CONTROL OF THE PREPUBERTAL OVARY

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON REGIONAL PRIMATE RESEARCH CENTER · 1994 · $139,315

## Abstract

The overall goal of this proposal is to substantiate the emerging concept
that the developing ovary, in addition to its hormonal regulation, is
controlled by direct neural influences.  During the past period of support
we made three findings which provide the bases for the present application.
We demonstrated that: a) the sympathetic innervation of the rat ovary is
required for normal ovarian function, and nerve growth factor (NGF) is
essential for development of this innervation, b) the rat ovary is able to
produce catecholamines in the absence of extrinsic innervation, and c) the
sympathetic innervation of the gland develops before initiation of
folliculogenesis.  Thus, this renewal application focuses on NGF receptors
(NGFrec), the molecular entity that mediates the effects of NGF, tyrosine
hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting step in catecholamine biosynthesis, and
the extrinsic innervation of the ovary during early follicular development.
Experiments are proposed to define the presence and possible functions of
NGF receptors in the immature rat ovary, to characterize ovarian TH mRNA
which, as judged by preliminary results, may encode a TH molecule regulated
differently than the adrenal enzyme, and to determine if neurotransmitters
contained in ovarian nerves contribute to the initiation of follicular
formation.  Additional studies are proposed to test the hypothesis that
innervation of the primate ovary also precedes folliculogenesis, thus
representing a fundamental mechanism of early mammalian reproductive
development.  To this end, the following specific aims are proposed: 1) To
establish the existence of NGFrec in the ovary and the ability of
non-neuronal ovarian cells to synthesize the receptors in addition to those
expressed by the innervating fibers, 2) to investigate the hypothesis that
non-neuronal NGFrec in the ovary are regulated differently than those
expressed in nerve terminals, 3) to examine the possibility that NGF -- in
addition to its neurotrophic activity -- may affect the cytodifferentiation
of follicular cells, 4) to define the cellular sources, regulation and
molecular characteristics of ovarian TH mRNA, which as determined by
ribonuclease protection assays, diverges from adrenal TH mRNA at the
5'terminus, 5) to test the hypothesis that neurotransmitters contained in
ovarian nerves represent an early neurogenic regulatory component of
ovarian development able to initiate follicular formation before the ovary
becomes subjected to gonadotropin control, 6) to examine, with light and
electron microscopy, the hypotheses that the primate ovary becomes
innervated before initiation of folliculogenesis, and that the developing
nerves establish early anatomical contacts with primordial steroidogenic
cells before these cells become organized into a follicular structure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2199327
- **Project number:** 5R01HD024870-07
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON REGIONAL PRIMATE RESEARCH CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Sergio R Ojeda
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $139,315
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1988-02-01 → 1996-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2199327

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2199327, NEURAL CONTROL OF THE PREPUBERTAL OVARY (5R01HD024870-07). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2199327. Licensed CC0.

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