Abstract
Background: We have earlier reported that follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) modulates ovarian stem cells which
include pluripotent, very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs) and their immediate descendants ‘progenitors’
termed ovarian germ stem cells (OGSCs), lodged in adult mammalian ovarian surface epithelium (OSE). FSH may
exert pleiotropic actions through its alternatively spliced receptor isoforms. Four isoforms of FSH receptors (FSHR)
are reported in literature of which FSH-R1 and FSH-R3 have biological activity. Present study was undertaken to
identify FSHR isoforms mediating FSH action on ovarian stem cells, using sheep OSE cells culture as the study
model.