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The addition of neutralizing antibody to the culture media partially inhibited the spontaneous activation of primordial follicles. This was manifested by a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the proportion of primordial follicles in neutralizing antibody-treated ovaries (47.2% 6 3.6%) compared with untreated ovaries (33.0% 6 3.2%) (Fig. 8). This increase in the proportion of primordial follicles was reflected by a decline in the proportions of early primary, primary, and preantral follicles in the antibody-treated group compared with the untreated culture control group, although the differences between these two treatment groups within individual follicle stages were not statistically significant. To investigate the effect of exogenous KITL on follicle recruitment, ovaries were treated with 50 ng/ml or 150 ng/ml recombinant mouse KITL. Treatment of mouse ovaries with recombinant mouse KITL induced a dramatic decrease in the proportion of primordial follicles (Fig. 8). In untreated cultured ovaries, primordial follicles comprised 33.0% 6 3.2% of all follicles. In ovaries treated with 50 ng/ml recombinant mouse KITL only 20.8% 6 2.7% of follicles remained in the primordial stage of development, and this proportion decreased to 10.1% 6 1.5% in the presence of 150 ng/ml recombinant mouse KITL.