Effect of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6 (BMP6) on Chicken Granulose Cells Proliferation and Progesterone Synthesis

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6) plays critical roles in regulating various stages of ovarian follicle development in mammals. However, the mechanisms of regulation of BMP6 in the chicken ovary remain unclear. In this study, mRNA and protein expression level of BMP6 in chicken ovarian follicles at different development stages were determined by qRT-PCR and western blot separately. Different concentrations of BMP6 protein and FSH were added to the culture medium, and the effects to proliferation of granulose cells were detected, further effect on expression pattern of progesterone synthesis associated genes were also analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting and the secretion of progesterone was detected by ELISA. The results showed that mRNA and protein expression level of BMP6 increased significantly in the follicle with the development of follicle (p<0.05) and reached a peak at F1 follicle. Adding concentration of 50ng/ml and 100ng/ml of BMP6 protein promoted significantly the proliferation of granulosa cells (p<0.05), as well as up-regulated the expression of Steroid hormone synthesis acute regulatory protein (StAR) and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) genes in mRNA and protein level. Meanwhile, the secretion of progesterone was significantly higher in the group that added BMP6 and FSH separately than blank control group (p<0.05) and reached a peak in the group that both added BMP6 and FSH. Collectively, these findings highlight that BMP6 is associated with proliferation of follicular cells and the synthesis of progesterone, which indicated that it took an important role in the follicular development of chicken.

BMP6 Promotes the Secretion of 17 Beta-Estradiol and Progesterone in Goat Ovarian Granulosa Cells

“…An in vitro study found that BMP6 could increase the maturation of antral follicles in mice [ 25 ]. Meanwhile, the exogenous addition of BMP6 protein to the GCs of chicken ovary cultured in vitro significantly promoted the proliferation of the GCs [ 26 ]. In this experiment, BMP6 treatment had no significant effect on proliferation in goat ovary GCs in vitro.…”