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Extracellular Vesicles Originate from the Conceptus and Uterus During Early Pregnancy in Sheep

ABSTRACT: The present studies tested the hypothesis that the elongating ovine conceptus and uterus produces EVs with the potential to mediate conceptus-maternal communication during early pregnancy. In Study One, EVs were purified from uterine luminal fluid (ULF) of day 14 cyclic sheep. The EVs were fluorescently labeled with PKH67 dye and infused into the uterine lumen of pregnant sheep for 6 days using an osmotic pump. On day 14, labeled EVs were observed in the conceptus trophectoderm and uterine epithelia, but not in the uterine stroma or myometrium. In Study Two, day 14 conceptuses were cultured ex vivo for 24 hours and found to release EVs into the culture medium. Isolated EVs from conceptuses were fluorescently labeled with PKH67 and infused into the uterine lumen of cyclic sheep for 6 days using an osmotic pump. On day 14, labeled EVs were observed in the uterine epithelia, but not in the uterine stroma or myometrium. No evidence of EV escape from the uterine lumen was observed by analysis of the ovary and other maternal tissues. Proteomics analysis of the day 14 conceptus-derived EVs identified 231 proteins that were enriched for extracellular space and several protein classes including proteases, protease inhibitors, chaperones and chaperonins. RNA-sequencing of day 14 conceptus-derived EVs detected expression of 512 mRNAs. The top expressed genes were overrepresented in ribosomal functions and components. These studies support the ideas that EVs emanate from both the conceptus trophectoderm and uterine epithelia and are involved in intercellular communication during the establishment of pregnancy.

ORGANISM(S): Ovis aries

PROVIDER: GSE76035 | GEO | 2015/12/16

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA306043

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:In cattle, maternal recognition of pregnancy occurs on Day 16 via secretion of interferon tau (IFNT) by the conceptus. The endometrium can distinguish between embryos with different developmental competencies. In eutherian mammals, X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is required to ensure an equal transcriptional level of most X-linked genes for both male and female embryos in adult tissues, but this process is markedly different in cattle than mice. We examined how sexual dimorphism affected conceptus gene expression and amino acid composition as well as the endometrial transcriptome during the peri-implantation period of pregnancy. Of the 5132 genes were differently expressed on Day 19 in male compared to female conceptuses, 2.7% were located on the X-chromosome. Concentrations of specific amino acids were higher in the uterine luminal fluid with male compared to female conceptuses, while female conceptuses had higher expression of specific amino acid transporters (SLC6A19 and SLC1A35). Of note, the endometrial transcriptome was not different in cattle gestating a male or a female conceptus. These data support the hypothesis that, far from being a blastocyst specific phenomenon, XCI is incomplete before and during implantation in cattle. Despite differences in gene expression and amino acid utilization in male versus female conceptuses, the sex of the conceptus itself does not elicit a different response in the endometrium. Following a synchronized estrous cycle, all heifers observed in standing estrus (=Day 0, n=30) were inseminated with semen from a proven sire. All samples were recovered at slaughter on Day 19 following estrus corresponding to the initiation of implantation in cattle, flushed with 10 ml of PBS and the presence of a conceptus was observed under a stereo-microscope (n=24). Each conceptus was dissected into 4 pieces, 3 containing only trophectoderm cells and one containing the embryonic disc along with associated trophectoderm cells, and immediately snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen along with the corresponding intercaruncular endometrium from the uterine horn ipsilateral to the corpus luteum. DNA was extracted from each conceptus with phenol/chloroform treatment and finally re-suspended in 200 Î¼L of milliQ water. Two microliters of each sample were used to perform embryo sexing by PCR amplification of sex-specific polymorphic fragments in the amelogenin gene. N=5 samples of intercaruncular endometirum and the corresponding trophectoderm only sample were anaylsed for gene expression.

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Extracellular Vesicles Originate from the Conceptus and Uterus During Early Pregnancy in Sheep

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