“Biological Adhesion” is a Significantly Regulated Molecular Process during Long-Term Primary In Vitro Culture of Oviductal Epithelial Cells (Oecs): A Transcriptomic and Proteomic Study

Abstract

Oviductal epithelial cells (OECs) actively produce stimulating and protecting factors, favoring survival and viability of gametes and early embryos. The oviduct participates in the initial reproductive events, which strongly depends on adhesion. The analysis of differential gene expression in OECs, during long-term in vitro culture, enables recognition of new molecular markers regulating several processes, including “biological adhesion”. Porcine oviducts were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, as well as with antibodies against epithelial markers. Then, OECs were long-term in vitro cultured and after 24 h, 7, 15, and 30 days of culture were subjected to transcriptomic and proteomic assays. Microarrays were employed to evaluate gene expression, with Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of light (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry applied to determine the proteome. The results revealed proper morphology of the oviducts and typical epithelial structure of OECs during the culture. From the set of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), we have selected the 130 that encoded proteins detected by MALDI-TOF MS analysis. From this gene pool, 18 significantly enriched gene ontology biological processes (GO BP) terms were extracted. Among them we focused on genes belonging to “biological adhesion” GO BP. It is suggested that increased expression of studied genes can be attributed to the process of intensive secretion of substances that exhibit favorable influence on oviductal environment, which prime gametes adhesion and viability, fertilization, and early embryo journey.

Canine oviductal exosomes improve oocyte development via EGFR/MAPK signaling pathway

“…Till date, the potential physiological characteristics of oviduct cells have been investigated in the field of reproduction (No et al 2018, Budna-Tukan et al 2019, Ferraz et al 2019) because serial reproductive processes, including gamete maturation, fertilization, and embryo development, occur within the oviductal canal. The maternal tract, including oviductal canal and uterus, has been shown to regulate gamete and embryo interaction by altering transcript abundance (Al-Dossary & Martin-Deleon 2016, Burns et al 2016, Di Pietro 2016.…”

Biochemical properties of cofactor and coenzyme metabolism in porcine oviductal epithelial cells – a microarray study

“…The method used for OEC harvesting and culture has been described in our previous studies [7,8,11]. Briefly, collected oviducts were washed twice in Dulbecco's phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and sectioned longitudinally.…”

“…Affymetrix microarray assays have been previously employed to investigate the expression profiles of genes involved in several important processes in oviductal epithelial cells, such as biological adhesion [7], amino acids metabolism and degradation [8], cell cycle process, proliferation [9], epithelium morphogenesis and oviduct development [10]. The aim of the present study is to further characterize the porcine oviductal epithelial cells model during long-term primary in vitro culture.…”

Genes regulating biochemical pathways of oxygen metabolism in porcine oviductal epithelial cells during long-term IVC

“…The method used for OEC harvesting and culture has been described in our previous studies [17][18][19]. Briefly, collected oviducts were washed twice in Dulbecco's phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and sectioned longitudinally.…”