The main themes of the present thesis was the regulation of ovarian antral follicle growth, the manipulation of follicular dynamics and ovulation rate, as well as the characterization of the ovine corpus luteum (CL). Two treatments with ovine follicle stimulating hormone (oFSH) were used to assess the responsiveness of small antral follicles during different times in a follicular wave. Follicular dynamics were monitored by transrectal ultrasonography and serum FSH concentrations were measured. Two experiments were performed on anestrous Western White Face (WWF) ewes to independently examine whether or not the ovulations during treatment with a medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP)-containing sponge and prostaglandin F2á (PGF2á), were due to the direct effects of PGF2á on the ovary or the effects of a rapid decline in progesterone at PGF2á-induced luteolysis. Non prolific Suffolk ewes were used to assess the effectiveness of treatment with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP)-containing sponge and prostaglandin F2á (PGF2á) to increase lambing rate. Re-introduction of rams to pre-isolated, mid-anestrous, WWF ewes was used to look at the effect of increased pulsatile secretion of LH on ovarian antral follicular dynamics at different stages of follicular wave development. We also used ovarian transrectal ultrasonography and computer assisted image analysis as non-invasive techniques to investigate whether or not there were correlations between ultrasound image attributes of the ovine CL and changing progesterone concentrations over time, in prolific and non prolific ewes. The results of the present studies showed that, in the ewe, small antral follicles can respond to the injection of FSH to yield a follicular wave more frequently than seen in a normal cycle and in the presence of a large growing antral follicle. Non induced waves can emerge during the growth phase of a wave induced by injection of oFSH. These results bring into question the presence of functional follicular dominance in the ewe. Ovulations occurred after PGF2á injection but during continuous treatment with MAP, but those ewes experiencing a decline in serum progesterone concentrations in the presence of MAP did not ovulate any follicles. We concluded that ovulations occurring after PGF2á injection, in the presence of a MAP sponge could be due to a direct effect of PGF2á at the ovarian level rather than a sudden decline in circulating progesterone concentrations. Treatment of Suffolk ewes with MAP-containing sponges and injection of PGF2á did not increase lambing rate, perhaps due to asynchrony of ovulations. Re-introduction of rams to previously isolated ewes resulted in a subtle increase in LH pulse frequency on the day of ram introduction in ewes in the static phase of a follicular wave. However, there were no consistent changes in follicular dynamics or estradiol secretion in response to this increase in LH pulse frequency. We concluded that changes in LH pulse frequency do not dramatically change ovarian antral follicular dynamics in the anestrous ewe. Both total luteal area and mean spot pixel values for the CL were correlated with the pattern of serum concentrations of progesterone from day 3 to day 15 after ovulation in WWF ewes and from day 3 to day 14 in Finn ewes. There were no significant correlations between progesterone concentrations and spot pixel heterogeneity for either WWF or Finn ewes. We concluded that pixel heterogeneity is a poor indicator of progesterone secretory ability of the CL when compared to mean pixel values. However, luteal area and mean spot pixel values are better but not strong indicators of the functional status of the CL in cyclic ewes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1962. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on Sept. 3, 2009). "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science, Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-226).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-53).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-59).

No / Hair pigmentation is controlled by tightly coordinated programs of melanin synthesis and involves signaling through the melanocortin type 1 receptor (MC-1R) that regulates the switch between pheomelanogenesis and eumelanogenesis. However, the involvement of other signaling systems, including the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway, in the control of hair pigmentation remains to be elucidated. To assess the effects of BMP signaling on hair pigmentation, transgenic mice overexpressing the BMP antagonist noggin (promoter: keratin 5) were generated. Whereas wild-type C3H/HeJ mice have a subapical yellow band on otherwise black dorsal hairs, K5-Noggin mice are characterized by the absence of a yellow band and near-black pigment in dorsal coat. Noggin overexpression is accompanied by strongly reduced levels of Agouti signal protein and enhanced expression of microphthalmia transcription factor in the midphase of the hair-growth cycle. Wild-type color in K5-Noggin mice is restored by administration of a synthetic MC-1R antagonist resulting in the reappearance of a subapical yellow band. BMP-4 stimulates the expression of Agouti transcripts and protein in primary epidermal keratinocytes, and BMP signaling positively regulates dermal papilla-specific enhancer of the Agouti gene in primary dermal fibroblasts. Taken together, these data suggests that BMP signaling controls the expression of Agouti protein in the hair follicle and provide evidence for interaction between BMP and MC-1R signaling pathways to modulate the balance between pheomelanogenesis and eumelanogenesis during hair growth.

No / The word ¿gerontology¿ is familiar to most of us as a term that captures the study of the social, psychological, and biological aspects of aging. However, its derivative ¿gerontobiology¿ as applied to the hair follicle is more concerned with the latter aspect ¿ the biology of aging in the hair follicle mini-organ. As with any complex multicellular tissue system, the hair follicle is prone to broadly similar underlying processes that determine the functional longevity of organs and tissues. No matter how complex the tissue system is, it will contain cells that eventually lose functionality, reproductive potential and will ultimately die. The hair follicle is somewhat unusual among mammalian tissues in that it is a veritable histologic mélange of multiple cell types (e.g., epithelial, mesenchymal and neuro-ectodermal) that function contemporaneously in all stages of their life histories e.g., stem cells, transit-amplifying cells, and terminally differentiating cells. Some of these interactive cell systems appear to be nonessential for overall hair follicle survival (e.g., melanocytes). However, strikingly graying hair follicles may grow even more vigorously than their pigmented predecessors. Moreover, the hair follicle is unique in the adult mammal in that it follows a tightly regulated script of multiple lifelong cycles of cellular birth, proliferation, differentiation, and death. Powerful evolutionary selection ensures that the hair follicle is, in the main, hardwired against significant aging-related loss of function, even after 12 or more decades of life ¿ although some would argue with this view, if only on purely cosmetic grounds. Processes underlying aging in general, e.g., oxidative damage, telomere shortening, age-relating deficiencies related to nuclear/mitochondrial DNA damage and repair as well as age-related reductions in the cells¿ energy supply, will all impact on whether some follicular cell subpopulations will enter cellular senescence. This chapter will focus on how gerontobiology of the hair follicle may impact on certain aspects of hair fiber phenotype.

No description available.

viii, 117 leaves, 3 leaves of plates : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1981