= Theca cell
A <theca cell> is a somatic <cell> in the layers surrounding the <granulosa cell> compartment of a growing <ovarian follicle>. The steroid-producing thecal population responds to <luteinizing hormone> and supplies <androgens> that can become substrates for <aromatase> in <granulosa cells>. This division of biochemical work helps connect two cell populations to ovarian <estrogen> production.<Anatomy and Physiology 2e by J. Gordon Betts and others>[Section27.2: follicular theca and granulosa endocrine functions]{ref}
A 1995 experiment cultured human <theca cells> for four days and measured release of the <androgen> <androstenedione>. <Insulin> and related growth-factor treatments altered steroid output, with stronger effects in the presence of <luteinizing hormone>, while the tested treatments did not stimulate cell growth. The experiment separated a change in endocrine activity from a simple increase in cell number.<Metabolic regulation of androgen production by human thecal cells in vitro by R. Nahum and others>[Abstract: serum-free cultures, androstenedione assay and growth measurements]{ref}
An illustrative pathway therefore follows substrate rather than treating every ovarian <cell> as interchangeable: production of an <androgen> in one population can support conversion to an <estrogen> in another. Measuring the final product alone does not identify which upstream population changed its activity.
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