The ovary creates a temporary 'sugar-storage' unit to fuel itself during a phase where it has no blood supply.
April 1, 2026
Original Paper
Granulosa cell glycogen fuels the avascular corpus luteum
bioRxiv · 2025.01.22.634063
The Takeaway
Before blood vessels can reach the newly forming corpus luteum, the cells must survive a 'metabolic blackout.' They solve this by loading up on glycogen (sugar) like a marathon runner, a universal reproductive principle discovered here for the first time across species.
From the abstract
The corpus luteum (CL) arises from the luteinization of follicular granulosa cells (GCs) and theca cells, marked by rapid progesterone elevation and angiogenesis. Intriguingly, angiogenesis lags behind progesterone elevation, creating an avascular phase during which luteal cells must fuel intensive steroidogenesis without perfusion. How the avascular CL meets this energetic demand remains a mystery. Here, we reveal a novel cellular adaptive mechanism-GC energy storage (GCES)-that resolves this e