Follicle-stimulating Hormone Stimulates Ovarian Synthesis Of Proteoglycans In The Estrogen-stimulated Hypophysectomized Immature Female Rat.

FSH stimulates antrum formation, but the mechanisms involved have remained obscure. Because antral fluid contains proteoglycans, we have studied the incorporation of 35SC4 into ovarian proteoglycans in estrogen-primed hypophysectomized immature female rats in which antrum formation was stimulated by administration of ovine FSH, highly purified human FSH, and/or hCG. Two days after hypophysectomy and insertion of a silastic capsule containing diethylstilbestrol, graded doses of ovine FSH (NIH S-ll) were injected sc twice daily for 4 days. On day 4, 35SC4 (200–300 /μCi) was given ip and the animals were sacrificed 24 h later. The ovaries were homogenized, the 100,000 × g supernatants filtered through 0.025 μn Millipore filters, and the non-filterable radioactivity determined. The non-filterable radioactivity was macromolecular proteoglycans, because incubation with chondroitinases AC or ABC (with or without papain pretreatment) resulted in a 75% decrease in non-filterable radioactivity, and the degradation ...