Ovulation is a rapid, hormone-triggered tissue remodelling event in which an ovarian follicle releases a fertilisable egg. Despite its central importance for fertility, the cell-level mechanisms that couple follicle maturation to directional rupture remain poorly defined, largely because the process unfolds in 3D over hours and has been studied mainly using fixed samples and endpoint assays. This has limited quantitative, functional, and reproducible dissection of the cellular behaviours that drive the transition from follicle growth to egg release.
We have established an experimental framework that enables direct visualisation and controlled perturbation of ovulation at cellular resolution, combining long-term follicle culture with quantitative live imaging. This approach makes it possible to observe coordinated tissue-scale changes alongside single-cell behaviours, but it has not yet been used to assemble an integrated, cell-resolved description of how distinct follicle populations reorganise to execute ovulation and specify the rupture site.
In OvulAtlas, we will generate a cell-resolved atlas of the ovulating follicle by integrating whole-mount 3D mapping with live single-cell tracking. Using multiplexed imaging, we will localise key follicular cell populations in space and quantify how follicle polarity is established and remodelled over time. We will then track individual cell trajectories throughout ovulation to identify collective behaviours and cytoskeletal dynamics that precede rupture and oocyte release. Finally, we will perturb a central endocrine control pathway to link molecular regulation to quantified single-cell and tissue-scale dynamics.
Together, OvulAtlas will deliver a quantitative framework for ovulation and a reusable community resource comprising an annotated atlas, benchmark imaging datasets, and analysis workflows that can be adopted to study ovulatory timing and disruption under endocrine perturbation.
We have established an experimental framework that enables direct visualisation and controlled perturbation of ovulation at cellular resolution, combining long-term follicle culture with quantitative live imaging. This approach makes it possible to observe coordinated tissue-scale changes alongside single-cell behaviours, but it has not yet been used to assemble an integrated, cell-resolved description of how distinct follicle populations reorganise to execute ovulation and specify the rupture site.
In OvulAtlas, we will generate a cell-resolved atlas of the ovulating follicle by integrating whole-mount 3D mapping with live single-cell tracking. Using multiplexed imaging, we will localise key follicular cell populations in space and quantify how follicle polarity is established and remodelled over time. We will then track individual cell trajectories throughout ovulation to identify collective behaviours and cytoskeletal dynamics that precede rupture and oocyte release. Finally, we will perturb a central endocrine control pathway to link molecular regulation to quantified single-cell and tissue-scale dynamics.
Together, OvulAtlas will deliver a quantitative framework for ovulation and a reusable community resource comprising an annotated atlas, benchmark imaging datasets, and analysis workflows that can be adopted to study ovulatory timing and disruption under endocrine perturbation.
Supervisor
Dr Leo Guignard, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM), Aix-Marseille University
Co-Supervisor
Dr Christopher Thomas, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM), Aix-Marseille University
Intersectoral partner
Roche Innovation Center Munich, Penzberg, Germany
International partner
University of Adelaide - Robinson Research Institute , Australia