Epigenetic programming in the ovarian reserve

The ovarian reserve defines female reproductive lifespan, which in humans spans decades. The ovarian reserve consists of oocytes residing in primordial follicles arrested in meiotic prophase I and is maintained independent of DNA replication and cell proliferation, thereby lacking stem cell-based maintenance. Largely unknown is how cellular states of the ovarian reserve are established and maintained for decades. Our recent study revealed that a distinct chromatin state is established during ovarian reserve formation in mice, uncovering a novel window of epigenetic programming in female germline development. We showed that an epigenetic regulator, Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1), establishes a repressive chromatin state in perinatal mouse oocytes that is essential for prophase I-arrested oocytes to form the ovarian reserve. Here we discuss the biological roles and mechanisms underlying epigenetic programming in ovarian reserve formation, highlighting current knowledge gaps and emerging research areas in female reproductive biology.