Ovulation filmed from start to finish for the first time

This post is co-written by Christopher Thomas and Tabea Marx.

What is this?

This video shows ovulation live!  Watch as an egg is released from an isolated ovarian follicle from a mouse. Our latest research uses live microscopy to visualise this fascinating event at the start of life.

Where can this be found?

Ovulation takes place in the ovaries, the female reproductive organs responsible for growing and releasing eggs. The eggs are stored inside fluid-filled sacs called follicles. To make the process visible, we cultured these follicles outside of the ovaries and induced ovulation ex vivo.

How was this taken?

This video was captured using a Zeiss LSM-800 confocal microscope. While working together in the Schuh lab, we developed an imaging setup that allowed us to observe ovulation in real time using isolated follicles from transgenic mice expressing fluorescent markers for histones (H2B-EGFP) and cell membranes (Myristoylated tdTomato). We also injected dextran into the follicular antrum, an extracellular space surrounding the egg, to label the follicular fluid.

What does the follicle do during ovulation?

The follicle goes through three phases during ovulation: it expands, contracts, and then ruptures, releasing the egg for fertilisation. In our paper, we show that expansion is mediated by fluid influx into the follicle, driven by hyaluronic acid secretion, while contraction is controlled by smooth muscle cells in the outer layers of the follicle.

Why should people care about this?

Ovulation is at the heart of reproduction. Understanding this fundamental process better could help treat infertility caused by disorders that cause ovulation to fail, such as PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome).

How would you explain this to an 8-year-old?

This video shows how a tiny egg moves from inside to outside of the ovary, a part of the body that helps make babies. The egg’s home in the ovary, called the follicle, bursts like a balloon to release it. Scientists really wanted to see how this happens, so they took some of these tiny bubbles and put them under a special camera that can see very tiny things. Once outside, if the egg meets a sperm, they can join together to make a baby.

Where can people find more about it?

Want to know more about how we filmed this amazing process? Check out our paper in Nature Cell Biology to learn all the details! You can find it here:  

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-024-01524-6  

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