Theca cell
The theca cell is the term used to describe the outer cells of the ovarian follicles that emerge from the stroma of the ovary and that form a shell around the follicular epithelium, which consists of granulosa cells. This envelope, known as theca folliculi , is separated from the follicular epithelium by a thin basement membrane . With the differentiation to the tertiary follicle, the theca cell layer is subdivided into a cell-rich and vascular theca interna and a theca externa consisting of myofibroblasts and connective tissue fibers .
Theca cells nourish the egg cell and the vascular free follicular epithelium by diffusion and play an important role in follicular maturation. The cell membrane of a theca cell forms around 20,000 LH receptors under the influence of the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) . Under the influence of luteinizing hormone (LH) , androgens are produced, which are converted to estrogens by aromatase in the granulosa cells .
With the rupture of the follicle, theca interna cells migrate into the resulting cavity and differentiate into thecalutein cells . Thecalutein cells are the basis of the corpus luteum and form pregnancy-maintaining hormones, especially progesterone .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Karl-Josef Moll, Michaela Moll: Anatomy: short textbook for the catalog of objects. Elsevier, Urban & Fischer, 2006, ISBN 978-3-437-41743-6 , p. 6
- ^ Freimut Leidenberger, Thomas Strowitzki, Olaf Ortmann: Clinical endocrinology for gynecologists . Springer Science & Business Media, 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-89759-0 , p. 27.
- ↑ Hans Friedrich Nauth: Gynäkologische Zytodiagnostik : Textbook and Atlas . Georg Thieme, Stuttgart 2013. 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-13-157872-3 , p. 53.