OSCR

Exemestane increases the number and improves the morphology of cultured pre-antral follicles from transmasculine ovarian cortical tissue.

Overview

Authors: Hui Cheng1,2, Fu Wei1,2, Tessa H.R. Stolk3,4,5, Judith A. Huirne3,4,5, Wouter van Vugt3,4,5, Davy Cats6, Hailiang Mei6, Kevin A.J. Brewster2,7, Elena Sánchez-López2,7, Martin Giera2,7, Gonneke S.K. Pilgram8, Lucette A.J. van Der Westerlaken8, Norah M. van Mello3,4,5, Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes1,2,9
ORCID iDs: Hui Cheng, Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes
  1. Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZC Leiden, the Netherlands
  2. The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW), Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZC Leiden, the Netherlands
  3. Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije University Amsterdam, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  4. Amsterdam UMC, Centre of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  5. Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Research Institute, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  6. Sequencing Analysis Support Core, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZC Leiden, the Netherlands
  7. Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands
  8. Department of Gynecology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZA Leiden, the Netherlands
  9. Ghent-Fertility and Stem Cell Team (G-FAST), Department of Reproductive Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Institutions: Leiden University Medical Center (Netherlands); Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (Denmark); Amsterdam University Medical Centers (Netherlands); Amsterdam Reproduction Development (Netherlands); Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands); Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands); Ghent University Hospital (Belgium)
Journal: iScience, volume 29, issue 8, article 116992
Dates: received 5 August 2025; accepted 14 July 2026; published online 11 August 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992 · PMID 42620711 · PMCID PMC13486770 · OpenAlex W7202123650
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code on request (how the code is found and verified)
Categories: human (organism), cellular / molecular (subfield)
Methods: Statistics
Keywords: fertility preservation, follicular growth, culture, human, oocyte, granulosa cells, ovarian cortical tissue, steroidogenesis, luteinization, exemestane
Topic: Reproductive Biology and Fertility (Reproductive Medicine, Medicine), according to OpenAlex
Funding: European Research Council (ERC-CoG-2016-725722); Novo Nordisk Fonden (reNEW NNF21CC0073729); China Scholarship Council (CSC 202008320362, CSC 202008450034)
Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 42 references in the paper
Research resources: RRID:AB_10975095, RRID:AB_10986411, RRID:AB_141633, RRID:AB_141844, RRID:AB_1523469, RRID:AB_2106188, RRID:AB_2197661, Goat polyclonal anti-ZP3 Dilution 1:200 RRID:AB_2220639, Goat polyclonal anti-GDF9 Dilution 1:200 RRID:AB_2279069, RRID:AB_2535792, RRID:AB_2665738, RRID:AB_2721058, RRID:AB_2797144, RRID:AB_325813

Abstract

To enhance fertility preservation options, it would be beneficial to develop culture platforms starting from cryopreserved-thawed ovarian cortical tissue. Importantly, ovarian cortical tissue from cisgender females (cOVA) and transmasculine individuals (tOVA) respond differently to culture and may require specific conditions to support optimal folliculogenesis. We explored the role of CYP19A1-inhibitor exemestane on the emergence of pre-antral follicles during culture to equalize the use of cOVA and tOVA. We compared follicular growth, morphology, and distribution between cOVA and tOVA using immunofluorescence and hormonal quantification. The inhibitor reduced the estrogen levels in both OVA types, while enhancing follicular morphology of tOVA. Moreover, treatment with exemestane decreased STAR expression in tOVA regulating progesterone locally. The addition of exemestane during this initial culture period may prove beneficial to obtain pre-antral follicles from tOVA more comparable to cOVA. These findings represent a step toward optimizing culture conditions to support early folliculogenesis.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

A tracing map links a paper to the code its authors published: this paper has none (its code is available on request), so it has no map.

Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Data and code availability

• Data reported in this paper will be shared by the lead contact upon request. • This paper does not report original code. • Any additional information required to reanalyze the data reported in this paper is available from the lead contact upon request.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 3, 28 September 2026

  • Authors: added Hui Cheng (0000-0002-3606-8221); Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes (0000-0003-3866-2803); removed Hui Cheng; Susana M. Chuva de Sousa Lopes

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 14 authors, 10 keywords, 3 funders, 42 references, 14 RRIDs.

Cite

This paper

Cheng, H., Wei, F., Stolk, T. H., Huirne, J. A., Vugt, W. v., Cats, D., Mei, H., Brewster, K. A., Sánchez-López, E., Giera, M., Pilgram, G. S., van Der Westerlaken, L. A., van Mello, N. M., & Chuva de Sousa Lopes, S. M. (2026). Exemestane increases the number and improves the morphology of cultured pre-antral follicles from transmasculine ovarian cortical tissue. iScience, 29(8), 116992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992

BibTeX

@article{cheng2026exemestane,
author = {Cheng, Hui and Wei, Fu and Stolk, Tessa H.R. and Huirne, Judith A. and Vugt, Wouter van and Cats, Davy and Mei, Hailiang and Brewster, Kevin A.J. and Sánchez-López, Elena and Giera, Martin and Pilgram, Gonneke S.K. and van Der Westerlaken, Lucette A.J. and van Mello, Norah M. and Chuva de Sousa Lopes, Susana M.},
title = {{Exemestane increases the number and improves the morphology of cultured pre-antral follicles from transmasculine ovarian cortical tissue}},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
volume = {29},
number = {8},
pages = {116992},
publisher = {Elsevier},
issn = {2589-0042},
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992},
pmid = {42620711},
pmcid = {PMC13486770}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Cheng, Hui
AU - Wei, Fu
AU - Stolk, Tessa H.R.
AU - Huirne, Judith A.
AU - Vugt, Wouter van
AU - Cats, Davy
AU - Mei, Hailiang
AU - Brewster, Kevin A.J.
AU - Sánchez-López, Elena
AU - Giera, Martin
AU - Pilgram, Gonneke S.K.
AU - van Der Westerlaken, Lucette A.J.
AU - van Mello, Norah M.
AU - Chuva de Sousa Lopes, Susana M.
TI - Exemestane increases the number and improves the morphology of cultured pre-antral follicles from transmasculine ovarian cortical tissue
T2 - iScience
J2 - iScience
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/11
VL - 29
IS - 8
SP - 116992
SN - 2589-0042
PB - Elsevier
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

{
"id": "10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992",
"type": "article-journal",
"title": "Exemestane increases the number and improves the morphology of cultured pre-antral follicles from transmasculine ovarian cortical tissue",
"container-title": "iScience",
"author": [
{
"family": "Cheng",
"given": "Hui"
},
{
"family": "Wei",
"given": "Fu"
},
{
"family": "Stolk",
"given": "Tessa H.R."
},
{
"family": "Huirne",
"given": "Judith A."
},
{
"family": "Vugt",
"given": "Wouter van"
},
{
"family": "Cats",
"given": "Davy"
},
{
"family": "Mei",
"given": "Hailiang"
},
{
"family": "Brewster",
"given": "Kevin A.J."
},
{
"family": "Sánchez-López",
"given": "Elena"
},
{
"family": "Giera",
"given": "Martin"
},
{
"family": "Pilgram",
"given": "Gonneke S.K."
},
{
"family": "van Der Westerlaken",
"given": "Lucette A.J."
},
{
"family": "van Mello",
"given": "Norah M."
},
{
"family": "Chuva de Sousa Lopes",
"given": "Susana M."
}
],
"container-title-short": "iScience",
"volume": "29",
"issue": "8",
"page": "116992",
"DOI": "10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992",
"PMID": "42620711",
"PMCID": "PMC13486770",
"ISSN": "2589-0042",
"publisher": "Elsevier",
"URL": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.116992",
"language": "en",
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2026,
8,
11
]
]
}
}

Similar papers

The papers with a page that share the most with this one: the tools found in their code, their categories, datasets, cited references and authors, the rarest counting most.

[1] doi:10.1038/s41467-024-51185-0
In-depth analysis of transcriptomes in ovarian cortical follicles from children and adults reveals interfollicular heterogeneity.
Journal: Nature communications
In common: cellular / molecular, 3 references

Contribute

The authors of this paper can claim it, correct its record and validate its tracing map, and the maintainers of its code (its owner, or a public member of its organization) correct what it says of their repository; anyone signed in can ask for its removal. Every request goes to OSCR's own machine, which answers it; your account page follows them.

Sign in with ORCID to claim this paper as one of its authors, correct its record or validate its tracing map: when the paper's metadata lists your ORCID iD, you are recognized at once. Maintainers of its code: sign in with GitHub, then claim the repository on your account page.

Request its removal

To ask OSCR to remove this record, the copies of its authors' scripts or its tracing map, use the removal request page: signed in, you say who you are, what to remove and why, then review and confirm the request. Published rules decide every request (how).

Discussion, reproductions, activity

Discussion: code errors and mismatches between the code and the paper about this paper and its code, from readers and its authors, beside the paper and its tracing map.

Reproductions: reports from readers who ran the authors' code and did not get the paper's result, what they ran, with which environment, commit and data.

Activity: what happens around this paper: new versions of its record, its map's validation, discussions and reproductions. It opens with sign-in.