Regulatory role of melatonin on epidermal growth factor receptor, Type I collagen α1 chain, and caveolin 1 in granulosa cells of sheep antral follicles

Abstract

We investigated the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Type I collagen α1 chain (COL1A1), and caveolin 1 (CAV1) during follicular development and examined the regulatory role of melatonin (MLT) on EGFR, COL1A1, and CAV1 in sheep antral ovaries. The expression was detected in granulosa and theca cells by immunohistochemistry. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting were used to examine the expression levels of EGFR, COL1A1, and CAV1 in small (≤2 mm), medium (2-5 mm), and large (≥5 mm) follicles. The mRNA and protein levels of EGFR, COL1A1, and CAV1 were found to be the highest in large follicles. Furthermore, cultured granulosa cells were treated with MLT (10 À7 -10 À11 M), luzindole (nonselective MT1 and MT2 receptor antagonist, 10 À7 M), and 4-phenyl-2-propanamide tetraldehyde (4P-PDOT, MT2 selective antagonist, 10 À7 M) to detect the regulatory role of MLT on EGFR, COL1A1, and CAV1. Results indicated COL1A1 and CAV1 were at least partially regulated by MLT through MT1 and MT2 pathways, whereas EGFR was not. This study provided a reference for further studies on MLT regulatory role on EGFR, COL1A1, and CAV1 during sheep follicular development and elucidated the physiological mechanism of MLT regulator production.

Melatonin activates Nrf2/HO‐1 signalling pathway to antagonizes oxidative stress‐induced injury via melatonin receptor 1 (MT1) in cryopreserved mice ovarian tissue

“…The surface epithelial cells and medulla of the ovarian tissue were removed with surgical scissors and tweezers, and the ovarian was used for subsequent experiments. The ovaries of mice were divided into five groups: fresh group, no‐MLT‐treated (Sigma, M5250, MI, USA) cryopreservation (control group), 0.1 Mm MLT‐treated cryopreservation (MLT group), 0.1 Mm MLT + 10 −7 M Luzindole‐treated (Sigma, L2407, MI, USA) (Guo et al., 2021) cryopreservation (MLT + Luzindole group), 0.1 Mm MLT + 10 −7 M 4P‐PDOT‐treated (Sigma, SML1189, St. Louis, MI, USA) (Wang et al., 2022) cryopreservation (MLT + 4P‐PDOT group), each with 28 ovaries. Fresh ovarian tissues were ground into tissue homogenates.…”

Molecular mechanism of N-acetylcysteine regulating proliferation and hormone secretion of granulosa cells in sheep

“…Ovaries are the main reproductive organs of female animals (Anja and Jens 2013). Follicle is the basic functional unit of ovarian physiological activity (Wang, et al 2022). Follicles are composed of oocytes and the surrounding GCs and TCs, which can participate in the development and atresia of follicles (Ma, et al 2023).…”