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Recombinant mouse KITL (50 ng/ml and 150 ng/ml) had no stimulatory effect on the diameter of oocytes in the preantral follicle population compared with untreated cultured explants (Table 1). Role of KITL During Early Folliculogenesis in the Mouse Neither recombinant mouse KITL (Fig. 6) nor recombinant rabbit KITL (see Supplemental Fig. 2) promoted the activation of primordial follicles in rabbit ovarian cortical explants. Therefore, we sought to confirm reports in the literature that KITL directly promotes primordial follicle activation and supports continued follicle development in rodents, thus validating our rabbit explant culture system. Effects of Culture and Recombinant Mouse KITL Treatment on the Survival of Follicles in Mouse Ovaries A total of 97.1% 6 1.5% of all follicles in preculture mouse ovaries were healthy (Fig. 7). Following 8 days of culture, the proportion of healthy follicles declined significantly (P < 0.05) to 82.5% 6 3.7% (Fig. 7). The proportions of healthy follicles within cultured mouse ovaries treated with recombinant mouse KITL (50 ng/ml and 150 ng/ml), a combination of 150 ng/ml recombinant mouse KITL and anti-recombinant mouse KITL antibody, and anti-recombinant mouse KITL antibody alone did not vary significantly from the untreated culture group (Fig. 7). FIG. 7. Follicle survival in mouse ovaries. Ovaries were fresh tissue or had been cultured for 8 days under various treatment conditions. The proportion (%, mean 6 SEM) of total follicles in fresh and cultured mouse ovaries deemed healthy is shown. Values with different superscripts are significantly different at the 95% confidence interval.