Project description:Obox1 was considered to be a maternal factor participates in oogenesis and follicle development, but its function remains largely undefined. In this study, we demonstrated that Obox1-null female mice displayed subfertility as evidenced by decreased litter size. Obox1 deficiency resulted in less oocytes production. The levels of female sex hormones and gonadotropins, especially luteinizing hormone (LH), were significantly decreased both in ovaries and serum at diestrus. Further studies showed that Obox1-null ovaries were hypo-reactive to LH. There are still more unruptured follicles in the ovaries after superovulation in Obox1-null ovaries. The number of corpus luteum (CL) and serum concentration of progesterone (P4) reduced, and the steroidogenesis-related genes were aberrant in Obox1-null mice. In conclusion, Obox1 deficiency impaired ovulation and luteinization and led to female subfertility.
Project description:Dysregulation of ER has been linked with increased metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk. Uncovering the impact of ERα deficiency in specific tissues has implications for understanding the role ERα in normal physiology and disease, the increased disease risk in postmenopausal women, and the design of tissue-specific ERα-based therapies for a range of pathologies including cardiac disease and cancer. Cardiac myocyte-specific ER knockout mice (ERHKO) were generated to assess the role of ERα in the heart. Female ERHKO mice displayed a mild cardiac phenotype, but unexpectedly, the most striking phenotype was obesity in female ERHKO but not male ERHKO mice. We identified contractile dysfunction, metabolic and lipid dysregulation in hearts of female ERHKO mice. We also show that extracellular vesicles (EVs) collected from the perfusate from Langendorff-isolated hearts from female ERHKO mice contained distinct proteins with functions related to muscle, metabolic and fatty acid dysregulation.
Project description:PCSK9 promotes the lysosomal degradation of cell surface LDL receptor (LDLR). We analyzed how excess LDLR generated by PCSK9 deficiency is differently handled in male and female mice to possibly unveil the mechanism leading to the lower efficacy of PCSK9 mAb on LDL-cholesterol levels in women. Analysis of intact or ovariectomized PCSK9 knockout (KO) mice supplemented with placebo or 17β-estradiol (E2) demonstrated that female, but not male mice massively shed the soluble ectodomain of the LDLR in the plasma. Liver-specific PCSK9 KO or alirocumab-treated WT mice exhibit the same pattern. This shedding is distinct from the basal one and is inhibited by ZLDI-8, a metalloprotease inhibitor pointing at ADAM10/ADAM17. In PCSK9 KO female mice, ZLDI- 8 raises by 80 % the LDLR liver content in a few hours. This specific shedding is likely cholesterol-dependent: it is prevented in PCSK9 KO male mice that exhibit low intra-hepatic cholesterol levels without activating SREBP-2, and enhanced by mevalonate or high cholesterol feeding, or by E2 known to stimulate cholesterol synthesis via the estrogen receptor-α. Liver transcriptomics demonstrates that critically low liver cholesterol in ovariectomized female or knockout male mice also hampers the cholesterol-dependent G2/M transition of the cell cycle. Finally, higher levels of shed LDLR were measured in the plasma of women treated with PCSK9 mAb. PCSK9 knockout female mice hormonally sustain cholesterol synthesis and shed excess LDLR, seemingly like women. In contrast, male mice rely on high surface LDLR to replenish their stocks, despite 80 % lower circulating LDL.
Project description:Hepatocyte IKKβ deficiency worsens HCFD-induced NASH in male but not female mice. To help understand this gender difference, we performed microarray analysis for liver RNA samples to determine genes which are differentially regulated by IKKβ deficiency in male but not female mice as compared to Wildtype mice.
Project description:Description: Progranulin deficiency is associated with neurodegeneration in humans and in mice. We performed a deep proteomic screen of the pre-frontal cortex in aged (13-15 months) female progranulin-deficient mice (GRN-/-) and mice with a neuron-specific inducible overexpression of progranulin (SLICK-GRN-OE with tamoxifen) versus the respective control mice (Grn+/+ and SLICK-Grn without Tamoxifen). The data set shows progranulin-dependent alterations of protein expression in the cortex of mice.
Project description:Female infertility and subfertility have been increasing in prevalence worldwide. One contribuing factor is the health of the ovary, the function of shich is directly related to maternal age. In this report, we investigated the effecte of Korea Red Ginseng Extract Fraction on ovarian function in female mice
Project description:Research has shown that Taf4b-deficient female mice display excessive perinatal germ cell death, delayed germ cell cyst breakdown, and increased chromosome asynapsis. Therefore, we hypothesized that TAF4b, as part of TFIID, regulates oogenesis and meiotic gene programs. However, the transcriptomic effects of Taf4b-deficiency and how this may lead to the infertility we observe in mice has not yet been studied. Therefore, we performed RNA-seq to examine gene expression changes in E16.5 female Taf4b-heterozygous and Taf4b-deficient germ cells
Project description:Research has shown that Taf4b-deficient female mice display excessive perinatal germ cell death, delayed germ cell cyst breakdown, and increased chromosome asynapsis. Therefore, we hypothesized that TAF4b, as part of TFIID, regulates oogenesis and meiotic gene programs. However, the transcriptomic effects of Taf4b-deficiency and how this may lead to the infertility we observe in mice has not yet been studied. Therefore, we performed RNA-seq to examine gene expression changes in E14.5 female Taf4b-wildtype, Taf4b-heterozygous, and Taf4b-deficient germ cells
Project description:After fertilization the developing mammalian embryo migrates through the oviduct before it implants in the uterus. In order to prevent tubal pregnancy or failed implantation, development and migration of the embryo has to be tightly coordinated1. The precise molecular basis for the regulation of this maternal-embryonic interaction is largely unknown. Here we show that the Wilms tumor suppressor protein Wt1 is a critical regulator of the interaction between the maternal environment and the early embryo. Our results indicate that subfertility in Wt1ko/+ females is a maternal effect caused by the Wt1-dependent de-regulation of Prss29, encoding a serine protease. Notably, blocking Prss29 activity was sufficient to rescue subfertility in Wt1ko/+ female mice indicating Prss29 as a critical factor in female fertility. Furthermore, we have identified a missense mutation in a patient with idiopathic infertility leading to an amino acid exchange within the zinc finger domain of WT1 and resulting in reduced DNA binding. We demonstrate that Wt1 represses expression of Prss29 and that its de-repression and precocious expression in the oviduct interferes with pre-implantation development. Our study reveals a novel role for Wt1 in early mammalian development and identifies proteases as critical mediators of the maternal-embryonic crosstalk. We believe that our data regarding the importance of a proteostatic environment in the oviduct are also relevant for female fertility in humans. We anticipate that our findings will form the basis for the identification of further causes of idiopathic infertility.