Female fertility relies on the ovarian follicles that form during fetal development. Some medical treatments, such as chemo- or radiotherapy, are toxic to follicles and therefore ovarian tissue cryopreservation is used as a standard method for fertility preservation. This method is used for both adults and prepubertal individuals, even if its efficiency for tissue collected before puberty is not well documented.

In a publication in Nature researchers have analysed transcriptomes of cortical follicles from children and adults to investigate whether ovarian tissue collected in childhood has the same inherent properties as adult tissue and thus can be expected to function upon transplantation.

The results indicate largely comparable molecular signatures across child and adult follicles, but also show differences related to extracellular matrix, theca cells, and miRNA profiles. Further it is shown that follicles of normal morphology, in both adults and children, are classified into two separate groups based on their transcriptomic profiles, where one express essential oocyte markers and may progress normally while the other might be involved in local paracrine regulations. Finally, the impact of chemotherapy on gene expression in child follicles is shown.

These findings could be starting points for refining fertility preservation for children and to identify markers for a more refined staging and categorization of human ovarian follicles, which could significantly broaden the available options for preserving fertility in girls and women.

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