Self-organizing ovarian somatic organoids preserve cellular heterogeneity and reveal cellular contributions to ovarian aging.

Ovarian somatic cells are essential for reproductive function, but no existing models recapitulate the cellular heterogeneity or interactions within this compartment. We engineered a novel ovarian somatic organoid model by culturing a stroma-enriched fraction of mouse ovaries in scaffold-free agarose micromolds. Ovarian somatic organoids self-organized, maintained diverse cell populations, produced extracellular matrix, and secreted hormones.