Expression of leptin and its long form receptor at the porcine maternal-fetal interface: contrasting healthy and arresting conceptus attachment sites during early and mid-pregnancy

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology

Chandrakant Tayade⁴  Ann Hahnel²  Jocelyn M Wessels³  Kasra Khalaj⁴  Rami T Kridli¹  Ashley Kerr² 

[1] Department of Animal Production, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan;Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

关键词: Immunohistochemistry;    Western blotting;    PCR;    Chorioallantoic membrane;    Endometrium;    Gestation;    Pigs;   

Others  :  1139768
DOI  :  10.1186/1477-7827-12-91

 received in 2014-05-12, accepted in 2014-09-18,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

It is well established that spontaneous conceptus loss in swine is associated with an imbalance of both angiogenic and immunological factors. Leptin (LEP), a metabolic hormone, has also been implicated in the promotion of angiogenesis. In this study, LEP and its long form receptor (OB-Rb) were evaluated during porcine pregnancy to assess their basal level of expression and their potential role in conceptus development.

Methods

Expression and secretion of LEP and OB-Rb were quantified in the endometrium of non-pregnant (n = 5), and in the endometrium and chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of pregnant sows (parity 2 to 5) at gestational days (gd) 20 (n = 8) and 50 (n = 8). Data were analyzed by a 3-way ANOVA testing the effects of conceptus health, tissue type and gestational day.

Results

Leptin and OB-Rb transcripts were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in pregnant than in non-pregnant sows. Significantly greater LEP (P < 0.001) was detected in the endometrial tissue at gd20 compared with gd50. At the protein level, the lowest LEP expression (P < 0.01) was detected in the CAM at gd50, while OB-Rb protein was significantly lower (P < 0.01) at gd50 in the CAM than in the endometrium collected from gd20 and gd50 conceptus attachment sites. Immunofluorescence staining confirmed the expression of these proteins at both gestational days and in both tissue types.

Conclusions

Changes in the expression patterns of LEP and OB-Rb between gd20 and gd50 suggest a role for the LEP/OB-R complex at the early stages of porcine pregnancy, possibly affecting the attachment process. Further mechanistic studies are warranted to understand the specific role of leptin in porcine pregnancy.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Kerr et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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