Epidermal growth factor receptor signaling uncouples germ cells from the somatic follicular compartment at ovulation

Laleh Abbassi, Stephany El-Hayek, Karen Freire Carvalho, Wusu Wang, Qin Yang, Sofia Granados-Aparici, Rafael Mondadori, Vilceu Bordignon and Hugh J. Clarke ()
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Laleh Abbassi: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Stephany El-Hayek: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Karen Freire Carvalho: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Wusu Wang: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Qin Yang: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Sofia Granados-Aparici: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Rafael Mondadori: McGill University
Vilceu Bordignon: McGill University
Hugh J. Clarke: Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Germ cells are physically coupled to somatic support cells of the gonad during differentiation, but this coupling must be disrupted when they are mature, freeing them to participate in fertilization. In mammalian females, coupling occurs via specialized filopodia that project from the ovarian follicular granulosa cells to the oocyte. Here, we show that signaling through the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the granulosa, which becomes activated at ovulation, uncouples the germ and somatic cells by triggering a massive and temporally synchronized retraction of the filopodia. Although EGFR signaling triggers meiotic maturation of the oocyte, filopodial retraction is independent of the germ cell state, being regulated solely within the somatic compartment, where it requires ERK-dependent calpain-mediated loss of filopodia-oocyte adhesion followed by Arp2/3-mediated filopodial shortening. By uncovering the mechanism regulating germ-soma uncoupling at ovulation, our results open a path to improving oocyte quality in human and animal reproduction.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21644-z

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