Project description:Female fertility in mammals requires the iterative remodeling of the entire adult female reproductive tract across the menstrual/estrous cycle. Here we examine global transcriptional dynamics of the mouse oviduct along the anteroposterior axis and across the estrous cycle. Though we observed robust patterns of differential oviduct gene expression along the anteroposterior axis, we found surprisingly few changes in gene expression across the estrous cycle, in marked contrast to other mammals. We speculate that this is an evolutionarily derived state that may reflect the extremely rapid five-day mouse estrous cycle.
Project description:FecB (also known as BMPR1B) is a crucial gene in sheep reproduction, which has a mutation (A746G) that was found to increase the ovulation rate and litter size. The FecB mutation is associated with reproductive endocrinology, such mutation can control external estrous characteristics and affect follicle-stimulating hormone during the estrous cycle. Previous researches showed that the FecB mutation can regulate the transcriptomic profiles in the reproductive-related tissues including hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovary during the estrous cycle of Small Tailed Han sheep (STH). However, little research has been reported on the correlation between FecB mutation and the estrous cycle in STH sheep oviduct. To investigate the coding and non-coding transcriptomic profiles involved in the estrous cycle and FecB in the sheep oviduct, RNA sequencing was performed to analyze the transcriptomic profiles of mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the oviduct during the estrous cycle of STH sheep with mutant (FecBBB) and wild-type (FecB++) genotypes. In total, 21,863 lncRNAs and 43,674 mRNAs were screened.Together, our results can provide novel insights into the oviductal transcriptomic function against a FecB mutation background in sheep reproduction.
Project description:The endometrium provides optimal conditions for the transport of sperm to the oviduct, to the site of fertilization, and later on for the reception of the embryo. To study these changes on the level of gene expression, a messenger RNA expression profiling of endometrium tissue samples collected from 19 cyclic heifers at five stages of the estrous cycle (days 0, 3.5, 12, 18, 20) was performed. RNA was extracted from these tissue samples and analyzed with a custom-made bovine oviduct and endometrium (BOE) cDNA array. The cDNAs present on the array were derived from several previously conducted differential gene expression studies of bovine endometrium between different stages of the estrous cycle, during early pregnancy, and from studies of bovine oviduct epithelial cells. In all of these studies cDNAs of differentially expressed genes were identified using a combination of subtracted cDNA libraries and cDNA array hybridization. 1,440 cDNA fragments are located on the array. Twenty radioactively labeled cDNA samples (n=4 for each cycle stage) were hybridized with BOE arrays. Raw data were normalized using the BioConductor package vsn. Keywords: time course of gene expression in bovine endometrium during estrous cycle
Project description:The endometrium provides optimal conditions for the transport of sperm to the oviduct, to the site of fertilization, and later on for the reception of the embryo. To study these changes on the level of gene expression, a messenger RNA expression profiling of endometrium tissue samples collected from 19 cyclic heifers at five stages of the estrous cycle (days 0, 3.5, 12, 18, 20) was performed. RNA was extracted from these tissue samples and analyzed with a custom-made bovine oviduct and endometrium (BOE) cDNA array. The cDNAs present on the array were derived from several previously conducted differential gene expression studies of bovine endometrium between different stages of the estrous cycle, during early pregnancy, and from studies of bovine oviduct epithelial cells. In all of these studies cDNAs of differentially expressed genes were identified using a combination of subtracted cDNA libraries and cDNA array hybridization. 1,440 cDNA fragments are located on the array. Twenty radioactively labeled cDNA samples (n=4 for each cycle stage) were hybridized with BOE arrays. Raw data were normalized using the BioConductor package vsn. Keywords: time course of gene expression in bovine endometrium during estrous cycle Nineteen German Fleckvieh (Simmental) heifers were slaughtered at four different days of the estrous cycle, four animals at day 0, four at day 3.5, three at day 12 and eight animals at day 18. Four of the day 18 animals showed high and the other four low serum progesterone (P4) levels, respectively. This resulted in five groups of endometrial tissue samples corresponding to five stages of the estrous cycle.
Project description:To determine functional differences between the corpus luteum (CL) of the estrous cycle and pregnancy in cows, gene expression profiles between the CL of the estrous cycle and pregnancy were investigated. A 15 K bovine oligo DNA microarray detected 138, 265 and 455 differentially expressed genes (>2-fold; P<0.05) in the bovine CL of 20-25, 40-45, and 150-160 days of pregnancy compared with 10-12 days of the estrous cycle. The different gene expression profiles may contribute to functional differences between the CL of pregnancy and the CL of the estrous cycle in cows. Chemokines including eotaxin and lymphotactin may regulate CL function during pregnancy.
Project description:PURPOSE: To provide a detailed gene expression profile of the normal postnatal mouse cornea. METHODS: Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was performed on postnatal day (PN)9 and adult mouse (6 week) total corneas. The expression of selected genes was analyzed by in situ hybridization. RESULTS: A total of 64,272 PN9 and 62,206 adult tags were sequenced. Mouse corneal transcriptomes are composed of at least 19,544 and 18,509 unique mRNAs, respectively. One third of the unique tags were expressed at both stages, whereas a third was identified exclusively in PN9 or adult corneas. Three hundred thirty-four PN9 and 339 adult tags were enriched more than fivefold over other published nonocular libraries. Abundant transcripts were associated with metabolic functions, redox activities, and barrier integrity. Three members of the Ly-6/uPAR family whose functions are unknown in the cornea constitute more than 1% of the total mRNA. Aquaporin 5, epithelial membrane protein and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) omega-1, and GST alpha-4 mRNAs were preferentially expressed in distinct corneal epithelial layers, providing new markers for stratification. More than 200 tags were differentially expressed, of which 25 mediate transcription. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to providing a detailed profile of expressed genes in the PN9 and mature mouse cornea, the present SAGE data demonstrate dynamic changes in gene expression after eye opening and provide new probes for exploring corneal epithelial cell stratification, development, and function and for exploring the intricate relationship between programmed and environmentally induced gene expression in the cornea. Keywords: other
Project description:The success of the early reproductive events depends on an appropriate communication between gametes/embryos and the oviduct. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) contained in oviductal secretions have been suggested as new players in mediating this crucial cross-talk by transferring their cargo (e.g. proteins, mRNA and small ncRNA) from cell to cell. However, little is known about the oviduct EVs composition and their implications in reproductive success. The objective of our study was to determine the changes of oviductal EVs mRNA content under the hormonal influence during the estrous cycle. Methods: EVs, exosomes and microvesicles, were isolated from bovine oviductal fluid at different stages of the estrous cycle (postovulatory-stage, early luteal phase, late luteal phase and pre-ovulatory stage). Total RNA was isolated and used for the preparation of RNA-seq libraries. RNA-sequencing was performed on an Illumina HiSeq 2500. The obtained sequence reads that passed quality filters were mapped to the bovine genome sequence using Hisat 2. Read counts were calculated with QuasR Qcount and statistical analysis with EdgeR to identify differential mRNA abundance across the different stages of the estrous cycle. Results: RNA-sequencing identified 903 differentially expressed transcripts (FDR<0.001) in bovine oviductal EVs across the estrous cycle. Major differences were found between post-ovulatory and the rest of the stages analyzed.Functional annotation of the differentially abundant mRNAs identified functions related to cilia expression, exosome/vesicles, and many transcripts encoding ribosomal proteins. Conclusions: Our findings represent the first extensive oviductal signature of bovine oviductal EVs mRNA content and contribute to a better understanding of the role of EVs as modulators of gamete/embryo-maternal interactions.