SMAD Signaling Is Required for Structural Integrity of the Female Reproductive Tract and Uterine Function During Early Pregnancy in Mice.

ABSTRACT: Pregnancy is a complex physiological process tightly controlled by the interplay among hormones, morphogens, transcription factors, and signaling pathways. Although recent studies using genetically engineered mouse models have revealed that ligands and receptors of transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathways are essential for multiple reproductive events during pregnancy, the functional role of SMAD transcription factors, which serve as the canonical signaling platform for the TGFbeta/BMP pathways, in the oviduct and uterus is undefined. Here, we used a mouse model containing triple conditional deletion of the BMP receptor signaling Smads (Smad1 and Smad5) and Smad4, the central mediator of both TGFbeta and BMP signaling, to investigate

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5029477 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature