Oviductal Cell Proteome Alterations during the Reproductive Cycle in Pigs

Abstract

The mammalian oviduct plays a crucial role in events leading to the establishment of pregnancy. During the reproductive cycle, the reproductive system undergoes various changes, including alterations in the number of different cell types in the oviductal epithelium and changes in the height of oviductal cells. Maintaining the unique oviductal environment required for the fertilization and early embryonic development comes with an energy cost to the organism. Therefore, it is hypothesized that structural and functional changes to the oviduct during the reproductive cycle represent vital preparations for the development of suitable environments for conception and embryo support. Here, we aimed to identify the changes in protein expression profile that occur during the follicular and luteal stages of the reproductive cycle in oviductal epithelial cells. The porcine oviductal epithelial cell proteomes from the follicular and luteal stages of the reproductive cycle were contrasted after separation by 2-D gel electrophoresis. Several oviductal epithelial cell proteins were up- or down-regulated during the reproductive cycle. We checked the quantitative changes of two of these molecules during different stages of the reproductive cycle using Western blot analysis. Finally, a number of these proteins were identified using tandem mass spectrometry. The results demonstrated distinctive differences in the proteomic profiles of the oviduct between follicular and luteal phases of the reproductive cycle.

Proteomes of the Female Genital Tract During the Oestrous Cycle

“…The comparison of previously published transcriptomes (14,20,21,33,34) and tissue proteomes (23,25) in other models with the sheep luminal proteomes from this study provided some information about the possible secretory origin of many proteins, suggesting that the regulation of the protein abundance along the cycle may be associated to a significant extent with endocrine control of the expression of several genes.…”

“…We searched for these genes in seven studies of the transcriptome or proteome of the female tract during the cycle in other species. These include the transcriptome of the bovine cervix (14), the transcriptomes of the horse (21) and bovine (20) endometrium, the proteome of human endometrium (23,25), the transcriptome of bovine oviduct epithelial cells (34), and the proteome of porcine oviduct epithelial cells (33). A total of 59 proteins were found to be regulated similarly, i.e.…”

“…The quantification of expression of oviduct proteins in the presence of spermatozoa has revealed the dialog between the gametes and the oviduct (31,32). The regulation of expression of genes in the oviduct along the oestrous cycle was shown using oviduct cells from females in oestrus or luteal phase in porcine (33) and bovine species (34). Again, an extensive description of the proteome of the oviduct fluid along the oestrous cycle is lacking.…”

Oviductal response to gametes and early embryos in mammals

“…Proteomic analysis of OF have reported significant differences in the protein content between the different phases of the oestrous cycle (Seytanoglu et al 2008). In that study, seven proteins were highly abundant during the follicular phase (endoplasmin precursor, tumour rejection antigen gp96, ezrin, heat-shock 70 kDa protein 5, calreticulin precursor, actin, cytoplasmic 1, creatine kinase B-type), while six proteins were highly abundant during the luteal phase (gelsolin precursor, serum albumin precursor, myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase A1, adenosylhomocysteinase, keratin, type II cytoskeletal 8, keratin, type I cytoskeletal 19) (Seytanoglu et al 2008). Moreover, the presence of gametes in the oviduct also alters the pattern of protein secretion of the epithelial cells (Georgiou et al 2007).…”

Oviductal secretion and gamete interaction

“…Notorious differences in the proteomic profiles of the oviduct between follicular and luteal phases of the reproductive cycle in pig were Oviductal secretion R3 reported (Seytanoglu et al 2008). In addition, the presence of gametes appears to alter the pattern of protein synthesis and secretion of the oviductal cells.…”