Conceptus-induced, interferon tau-dependent gene expression in bovine endometrial epithelial and stromal cells†

Abstract

Bovine endometrium consists of epithelial and stromal cells that respond to conceptus interferon tau (IFNT), the maternal recognition of pregnancy (MRP) signal, by increasing expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). Endometrial epithelial and stromal-cell-specific ISGs are largely unknown but hypothesized to have essential functions during pregnancy establishment. Bovine endometrial epithelial cells were cultured in inserts above stromal fibroblast (SF) cells for 6 h in medium alone or with IFNT. The epithelial and SF transcriptomic response was analyzed separately using RNA sequencing and compared to a list of 369 DEGs recently identified in intact bovine endometrium in response to elongating bovine conceptuses and IFNT. Bovine endometrial epithelial and SF shared 223 and 70 DEGs in common with the list of 369 endometrial DEGs. Well-known ISGs identified in the epithelial and SF were ISG15, MX1, MX2, and OAS2. DEGs identified in the epithelial but not SF included a number of IRF molecules (IRF1, IRF2, IRF3, and IRF8), mitochondria SLC transporters (SLC25A19, SLC25A28, and SLC25A30), and a ghrelin receptor. Expression of ZC3HAV1, an anti-retroviral gene, increased specifically within the SF. Gene ontology analysis identified the type I IFN signaling pathway and activation of nuclear factor kappa B transcription factors as biological processes associated with the epithelial cell DEGs. This study has identified biologically relevant IFNT-stimulated genes within specific endometrial cell types. The findings provide critical information regarding the effects of conceptus IFNT on specific endometrial compartments during early developmental processes in cattle.

Transcriptomic Analysis of STAT1/3 in the Goat Endometrium During Embryo Implantation

“…By comparing the previously reported transcriptome analysis with the DEGs in our study, we observed that few genes were uniformly regulated by IFNT between EECs and in vivo uteri. In the co-culture system of bovine EECs and stromal cells, the authors identified 222 upregulated DEGs in bovine EECs by comparing IFNT-treated and untreated groups; of which 96 of 222 appeared in our DEG list and all showed upregulation (22). We also compared our data with the DEGs in the receptive uterus vs. unreceptive uterus reported by Zhang et al (23), because there are few reports on the transcriptome of IFNTtreated cells.…”

Recent progress of interferon-tau research and potential direction beyond pregnancy recognition

“…In addition to these chemokines, IFNT induces the expression of numerous interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in the maternal uterus [ 83 , 84 , 85 ]. Although the detection of ISGs expression in the uterus is well documented [ 85 , 86 , 87 ], elevated ISGs expression has been reported in various tissues other than the uterus, such as blood cells, luteal tissue, and liver during pregnancy [ 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 ].…”

An in vitro comparison of antimicrobial efficacy and cytotoxicity between povidone-iodine and chlorhexidine for treating clinical endometritis in dairy cows

“…The bovine endometrial epithelium cells (BEnEpC) are the first line of defense in exposure to various invading agents [21]. BEnEpC are often used as a bovine in vitro model for studying the biological characteristics, cellular and molecular mechanisms, development of interactions between the embryo and mother, and responses to infection or damage of the bovine uterine epithelium [22][23][24][25][26]. However, the consequences of antiseptics on BEnEpC have not been described.…”