The follicles of the ovary in the domestic hen are arranged in a hierarchy. Responsiveness of the adenylyl cyclase enzyme system of the granulosa cells to FSH decreases as follicles proceed towards ovulation. To test the hypothesis that this decline in FSH responsiveness could be the result of a decrease in FSH receptor numbers, an FSH receptor assay was characterized for chicken granulosa cells and used to measure receptor number and affinity of the largest (F1), third largest (F3) and fifth largest (F5) follicles removed 18 h before ovulation. The numbers of binding sites for F1, F3 and F5 follicles (n = 4) were 0.22 +/- 0.05, 0.5 +/- 0.14 and 1.22 +/- 0.27 pmol hormone bound/mg protein respectively, and were significantly (P less than 0.001) different among follicles. The apparent association constants for the F1, F3 and F5 follicles were not different and had a value of 23.4 +/- 4.9 litres/nmol (n = 12). Our results indicate that FSH receptor numbers decrease in granulosa cells without a change in affinity as follicles approach ovulation. The decrease in FSH receptor numbers is associated with the reported decline in FSH-stimulated steroidogenesis and adenylyl cyclase activity which occurs during follicular maturation.

Basal adenylate cyclase values for corpora lutea (CL) removed from cyclic gilts on Days 3, 8, 13 and 18 were 178 +/- 61, 450 +/- 46, 220 +/- 25 and 208 +/- 18 pmol cAMP formed/min/mg protein, respectively. Basal activity was significantly elevated on Day 8 (P less than 0.001). LH-stimulatable adenylate cyclase values for CL from Days 3, 8, 13 and 18 were 242 +/- 83, 598 +/- 84, 261 +/- 27 and 205 +/- 17 pmol cAMP formed/min/mg protein respectively. Serum progesterone concentrations of 12 gilts bled every 2 days through one complete oestrous cycle ranged from 1.1 to 26.9 ng/ml with highest values between Days 8 and 12. The decline in serum progesterone concentrations was coincident with the decrease in basal adenylate cyclase activity. There was no LH-stimulatable adenylate cyclase activity present in the CL at the specific times of the oestrous cycle examined. We conclude that progesterone secretion by the pig CL is apparently dependent on basal activity of adenylate cyclase.