Figure 6

The emergence of FSH-, LH-, and estrogen receptor gradients in the follicle. (A-C) Receptor profiles of (A) FSH-receptor, (B) LH-receptor, (C) estrogen receptor. At time zero the receptor concentrations are low and the receptors are distributed homogenously in the follicle (black line). Over the next five days localised feedbacks create a graded distribution of the receptors. (D-F) Receptor production. (G-I) Unbound receptors (J-L) Bound receptors (M-O) Receptor activity. The five time points are equally spaced at 0 (black), 1 (cyan), 2 (blue), 3 (green), 4 (yellow), and 5 days (red) curves. All panels show the concentration profiles on a scaled domain. For better readability we only show the subset of the domain that includes the theca (white area), granulosa (dark shade), COC (light shade), and part of the follicular fluid (blue shade) on the right hand side of the domain. The shaded area indicates the standard deviation of the simulations when noise is applied to the parameter values.