Transcriptomic insights into ovine ovarian response to extended in vitro culture and cryopreservation
- 1Hospices Civils de Lyon, Reproductive Department, INSERM U1208 SBRI, Université Lyon 1, Faculté de Médecine, Bron cedex, France
Abstract
Purpose: Sheep ovarian tissue is a valuable model for studying folliculogenesis, cellular interactions, and fertility preservation strategies. The impact of culture duration, culture conditions, and cryopreservation techniques on the transcriptome of ovarian tissue remains incompletely understood.
Methods: Ovarian fragments were subjected to conventional or bioreactor culture for up to 12 weeks, with or without prior cryopreservation by slow freezing or vitrification. RNA was extracted at multiple time points and analyzed using RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways.
Results: Prolonged conventional culture induced metabolic reprogramming, increased glycolytic and biosynthetic activity, and triggered stress, inflammatory, and even apoptosis pathways, whereas bioreactor culture limited stress responses and better-preserved cell proliferation and development. Ovarian tissue culture in bioreactor allowed for extended in vitro culture periods of up to 12 weeks, whereas conventional culture did not allow survival of the samples. Cryopreservation had minor effects on gene expression, with slow freezing and vitrification yielding largely similar transcriptomic profiles. Folliculogenesis-related genes showed a trend towards downregulation.
Conclusions: Bioreactor culture seems to provide a more physiologically relevant environment for maintaining ovarian tissue viability and function, and cryopreservation seems to have limited impact on the transcriptome compared to culture conditions. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing fertility preservation and translational approaches in reproductive medicine.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-026-03975-2.
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BibTeX
@article{michenaud2026transcriptomic,
title = {{Transcriptomic insights into ovine ovarian response to extended in vitro culture and cryopreservation}},
author = {Louise Michenaud and Julie Fiscus and Bruno Salle and Eloise Fraison and Elsa Labrune},
journal = {Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1007/s10815-026-03975-2},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-026-03975-2},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Transcriptomic insights into ovine ovarian response to extended in vitro culture and cryopreservation
AU - Louise Michenaud
AU - Julie Fiscus
AU - Bruno Salle
AU - Eloise Fraison
AU - Elsa Labrune
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/04
JO - Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics
DO - 10.1007/s10815-026-03975-2
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-026-03975-2
AB - Purpose: Sheep ovarian tissue is a valuable model for studying folliculogenesis, cellular interactions, and fertility preservation strategies. The impact of culture duration, culture conditions, and cryopreservation techniques on the transcriptome of ovarian tissue remains incompletely understood. Methods: Ovarian fragments were subjected to conventional or bioreactor culture for up to 12 weeks, with or without prior cryopreservation by slow freezing or vitrification. RNA was extracted at multiple time points and analyzed using RNA sequencing to identify differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways. Results: Prolonged conventional culture induced metabolic reprogramming, increased glycolytic and biosynthetic activity, and triggered stress, inflammatory, and even apoptosis pathways, whereas bioreactor culture limited stress responses and better-preserved cell proliferation and development. Ovarian tissue culture in bioreactor allowed for extended in vitro culture periods of up to 12 weeks, whereas conventional culture did not allow survival of the samples. Cryopreservation had minor effects on gene expression, with slow freezing and vitrification yielding largely similar transcriptomic profiles. Folliculogenesis-related genes showed a trend towards downregulation. Conclusions: Bioreactor culture seems to provide a more physiologically relevant environment for maintaining ovarian tissue viability and function, and cryopreservation seems to have limited impact on the transcriptome compared to culture conditions. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing fertility preservation and translational approaches in reproductive medicine. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-026-03975-2.
SN - 1058-0468
SN - 1573-7330
ER -