Articles

Multiple luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) protein variants, interspecies reactivity of anti-LHR mAb clone 3B5, subcellular localization of LHR in human placenta, pelvic floor and brain, and possible role for LHR in the development of abnormal pregnancy, pelvic floor disorders and Alzheimer's disease

Distinct luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR) protein variants exist due to the posttranslational modifications. Besides ovaries, LHR immunoreactivity (LHRI) was also found in other tissues, such as the brain, f...

Authors: Antonin Bukovsky, Korakod Indrapichate, Hiroshi Fujiwara, Maria Cekanova, Maria E Ayala, Roberto Dominguez, Michael R Caudle, Jay Wimalsena, Robert F Elder, Pleas Copas, James S Foster, Romaine I Fernando, Donald C Henley and Nirmala B Upadhyaya

Cumulus cells steroidogenesis is influenced by the degree of oocyte maturation

The possibility to predict the ability of a germ cell to properly sustain embryo development in vitro or in vivo as early as possible is undoubtedly the main problem of reproductive technologies. To date, only...

Authors: Pia Lucidi, Nicola Bernabò, Maura Turriani, Barbara Barboni and Mauro Mattioli

Apoptosis in uterine epithelium and decidua in response to implantation: evidence for two different pathways

During the initial steps of implantation, the mouse uterine epithelium of the implantation chamber undergoes apoptosis in response to the interacting blastocyst. With progressing implantation, regression of th...

Authors: Anike Joswig, Heinz-Dieter Gabriel, Mark Kibschull and Elke Winterhager

Late gestation modulation of fetal glucocorticoid effects requires the receptor for leukemia inhibitory factor: an observational study

Ablation of the low-affinity receptor subunit for leukemia inhibitory factor (LIFR) causes multi-systemic defects in the late gestation fetus. Because corticosterone is known to have a broad range of effects a...

Authors: Carol B Ware, Angelique M Nelson and Denny Liggitt

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) system gene expression in granulosa cells: kinetics during terminal preovulatory follicle maturation in the mare

A growing body of evidences suggests that the ovary is a site of inflammatory reactions, and thus, ovarian cells could represent sources and targets of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) system. The purpose of this stud...

Authors: Alain Martoriati and Nadine Gérard

The expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p15, p16, p21, and p27 during ovarian follicle growth initiation in the mouse

Cyclins regulate the cell cycle in association with cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs). CDKs are under inhibitory control of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs).

Authors: Aykut Bayrak and Kutluk Oktay

Effects of SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator) treatment on growth and proliferation in the rat uterus

Selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) have been developed in order to create means to control estrogenic effects on different tissues. A major drawback in treatment of estrogen receptor (ER) positive ...

Authors: Denis Stygar, Natalia Muravitskaya, Britt Eriksson, Håkan Eriksson and Lena Sahlin

Isolation and characterization of gelatin-binding proteins from goat seminal plasma

A family of proteins designated BSP-A1, BSP-A2, BSP-A3 and BSP-30 kDa (collectively called BSP proteins for Bovine Seminal Plasma proteins) constitute the major protein fraction in the bull seminal plasma. The...

Authors: Michèle Villemure, Claude Lazure and Puttaswamy Manjunath

The effects of estrogen, its antagonist ICI 182, 780, and interferon-tau on the expression of estrogen receptors and integrin alphaV beta 3 on cycle day 16 in bovine endometrium

We have shown previously that downregulation of intercaruncular stromal integrin α_vβ₃ in bovine endometrium on day 16 of the estrous cycle coincided with the antibody recognition of estrogen receptors (ER) in the...

Authors: Sarah Kimmins, Gerald L Russell, Hai Choo Lim, Brian K Hall and Leslie A MacLaren

Lysophosphatidic acid, LPA: a bad boy becomes good

Authors: Lygia T Budnik

Placental expression of estrogen receptor beta and its hormone binding variant – comparison with estrogen receptor alpha and a role for estrogen receptors in asymmetric division and differentiation of estrogen-dependent cells

During human pregnancy, the production of 17-beta-estradiol (E2) rises steadily to eighty fold at term, and placenta has been found to specifically bind estrogens. We have recently demonstrated the expression ...

Authors: Antonin Bukovsky, Michael R Caudle, Maria Cekanova, Romaine I Fernando, Jay Wimalasena, James S Foster, Donald C Henley and Robert F Elder

Aromatase expression and role of estrogens in male gonad : a review

The ability of the testis to convert irreversibly androgens into estrogens is related to the presence of a microsomal enzymatic complex named aromatase, which is composed of a specific glycoprotein, the cytoch...

Authors: Serge Carreau, Sophie Lambard, Christelle Delalande, Isabelle Denis-Galeraud, Barbara Bilinska and Sonia Bourguiba

IL-11 and IL-11Rα immunolocalisation at primate implantation sites supports a role for IL-11 in placentation and fetal development

Embryo implantation, endometrial stromal cell decidualization and formation of a functional placenta are critical processes in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Interleukin (IL)-11 signalling is ...

Authors: E Dimitriadis, L Robb, Y-X Liu, AC Enders, H Martin, C Stoikos, E Wallace and LA Salamonsen

Steroid-induced polycystic ovaries in rats: effect of electro-acupuncture on concentrations of endothelin-1 and nerve growth factor (NGF), and expression of NGF mRNA in the ovaries, the adrenal glands, and the central nervous system

Previous studies on the effect of repeated electro-acupuncture (EA) treatments in rats with steriod-induced polycystic ovaries (PCO), EA has been shown to modulate nerve growth factor (NGF) concentration in th...

Authors: Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Thomas Lundeberg, Stefan Cajander, Luigi Aloe, Luigi Manni, Urban Waldenström and Per Olof Janson

Quantitative investigation of reproduction of gonosomal condensed chromatin during trophoblast cell polyploidization and endoreduplication in the east-european field vole Microtus rossiaemeridionalis

Simultaneous determinations of DNA content in cell nuclei and condensed chromatin bodies formed by heterochromatized regions of sex chromosomes (gonosomal chromatin bodies, GCB) have been performed in two trop...

Authors: Tatiana G Zybina, Eugenia V Zybina, Margarita S Bogdanova and Grigory I Stein

4-Aminopyridine Decreases Progesterone Production by Porcine Granulosa Cells

Ion channels occur as large families of related genes with cell-specific expression patterns. Granulosa cells have been shown to express voltage-gated potassium channels from more than one family. The purpose ...

Authors: Yan Li, Suhasini Ganta, Fred B von Stein, Diane E Mason, Brianna M Mitchell and Lisa C Freeman

Effects of p-nonylphenol and resveratrol on body and organ weight and in vivo fertility of outbred CD-1 mice

The aim of this study was to analyse the multigenerational effects of para-nonylphenol (NP) and resveratrol (RES) on the body weight, organ weight and reproductive fitness of outbred CD-1 mice. The data indica...

Authors: Vendula Kyselova, Jana Peknicova, Daniela Buckiova and Michael Boubelik

Activin-A up-regulates type I activin receptor mRNA levels in human immortalized extravillous trophoblast cells.

Activin is known to play an important regulatory role in reproduction, including pregnancy. To further examine the role and signaling mechanism of activin in regulating placental function, the steady-state lev...

Authors: Victor TS Chen, Chun Peng and Peter CK Leung

Luteal regression: a redefinition of the terms

Authors: Jennifer M Bowen-Shauver and Carlos M Telleria

Oolemmal proteomics – identification of highly abundant heat shock proteins and molecular chaperones in the mature mouse egg and their localization on the plasma membrane

The mature mouse egg contains the full complement of maternal proteins required for fertilization, the transition to zygotic transcription, and the beginning stages of embryogenesis. Many of these proteins rem...

Authors: Meredith E Calvert, Laura C Digilio, John C Herr and Scott A Coonrod

Effects of indomethacin on ovarian leukocytes during the periovulatory period in the rat

We have investigated the effects of indomethacin (IM), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, and the role of prostaglandins on the accumulation of leukocytes in the rat ovary during the periovulatory period....

Authors: Francisco Gaytán, Concepción Morales, Carmen Bellido, Esteban Tarradas and José Eugenio Sánchez-Criado

The interleukin 1 (IL-1) system in the uteroplacental complex of a cartilaginous fish, the smoothhound shark, Mustelus canis

Cartilaginous fish are the oldest extant jawed vertebrates and the oldest line to have placentae. Their pivotal evolutionary position makes them attractive models to investigate the mechanisms involved in the ...

Authors: Chiara Cateni, Luana Paulesu, Elisa Bigliardi and William C Hamlett

Long-term ovariectomy changes formalin-induced licking in female rats: the role of estrogens

Gonadal hormones have been shown to exert modulatory effects on nociception and analgesia. To investigate the role of gonadal hormones in the response by female rats to both phasic and persistent nociceptive s...

Authors: Ilaria Ceccarelli, Paolo Fiorenzani, Cosimo Massafra and Anna Maria Aloisi

Analysis and characterization of differential gene expression during rapid trophoblastic elongation in the pig using suppression subtractive hybridization

During late peri-implantation development, porcine conceptuses undergo a rapid (2–3 hrs) morphological transformation from a 10 mm sphere to a thin filamentous form greater than 150 mm in length. Elongation of...

Authors: Jason W Ross, Morgan D Ashworth, Amy G Hurst, Jerry R Malayer and Rodney D Geisert

Expression of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system and steroidogenic enzymes in canine testis tumors

Testis tumors occur frequently in dogs. The main types of tumors are Sertoli cell tumors, seminomas, and Leydig cell tumors. Mixed tumors and bilateral occurrence of tumors may be encountered frequently. To el...

Authors: Monique AJ Peters, Jan A Mol, Monique E van Wolferen, Marja A Oosterlaken-Dijksterhuis, Katja J Teerds and Frederik J van Sluijs

Male pheromone stimulates ovarian follicular development and body growth in juvenile female opossums (Monodelphis domestica)

Female opossums are induced into estrus by direct exposure to a non-volatile pheromone in male scentmarks. Juvenile females develop this responsiveness by 150 days of age (days), and earlier (130 days) if expo...

Authors: John D Harder and Leslie M Jackson

Proposed mechanism for sperm chromatin condensation/decondensation in the male rat

Condensation of sperm chromatin occurs after spermatozoa have left the caput epididymis and are in transit to the cauda epididymis, during which time large numbers of disulfide bonds are formed. The formation ...

Authors: John C Chapman and Sandra D Michael

Expression of somatostatin receptor type-2 (sst2A) in immature porcine Leydig cells and a possible role in the local control of testosterone secretion

We recently reported that immature porcine Leydig cells express both somatostatin (SRIF) and SRIF receptor type-2 (sst-2) transcripts. The present study was therefore undertaken to assess whether SRIF might ex...

Authors: Joanna Fombonne, Zsolt Csaba, Ysander von Boxberg, Amandine Valayer, Catherine Rey, Mohamed Benahmed, Pascal Dournaud and Slavica Krantic

The envelopes of amphibian oocytes: physiological modifications in Bufo arenarum

A characterization of the Amphibian Bufo arenarum oocyte envelope is presented. It was made in different functional conditions of the oocyte: 1) when it has been released into the coelomic cavity during ovulation...

Authors: Gustavo A Barisone, Isabel E Albertali, Mercedes Sánchez and Marcelo O Cabada

Signaling mechanisms in tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced death of microvascular endothelial cells of the corpus luteum

The microvasculature of the corpus luteum (CL), which comprises greater than 50% of the total number of cells in the CL, is thought to be the first structure to undergo degeneration via apoptosis during luteol...

Authors: James K Pru, Maureen P Lynch, John S Davis and Bo R Rueda

Synchronous onset of oestradiol-17β secretion by Meishan conceptuses

The response of Meishan conceptuses to an exogenous precursor for oestradiol-17β biosynthesis was investigated in vitro, to determine whether gestational age or morphological stage of development elicit changes i...

Authors: Amanda R Pickard, Samuel J Miller and Cheryl J Ashworth

Prostaglandin F2alpha- and FAS-activating antibody-induced regression of the corpus luteum involves caspase-8 and is defective in caspase-3 deficient mice

We recently demonstrated that caspase-3 is important for apoptosis during spontaneous involution of the corpus luteum (CL). These studies tested if prostaglandin F_2α (PGF_2α) or FAS regulated luteal regression, ut...

Authors: Silvia F Carambula, James K Pru, Maureen P Lynch, Tiina Matikainen, Paulo Bayard D Gonçalves, Richard A Flavell, Jonathan L Tilly and Bo R Rueda

Responsiveness of bovine cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COC) to porcine and recombinant human FSH, and the effect of COC quality on gonadotropin receptor and Cx43 marker gene mRNAs during maturation in vitro

Substantially less development to the blastocyst stage occurs in vitro than in vivo and this may be due to deficiencies in oocyte competence. Although a large proportion of bovine oocytes undergo spontaneous n...

Authors: Michele D Calder, Anita N Caveney, Lawrence C Smith and Andrew J Watson

Expression and localization of estrogen receptor-alpha protein in normal and abnormal term placentae and stimulation of trophoblast differentiation by estradiol

Estrogens play an important role in the regulation of placental function, and 17-beta-estradiol (E2) production rises eighty fold during human pregnancy. Although term placenta has been found to specifically b...

Authors: Antonin Bukovsky, Maria Cekanova, Michael R Caudle, Jay Wimalasena, James S Foster, Donald C Henley and Robert F Elder

Effects of deletion of the prolactin receptor on ovarian gene expression

Prolactin (PRL) exerts pleiotropic physiological effects in various cells and tissues, and is mainly considered as a regulator of reproduction and cell growth. Null mutation of the PRL receptor (R) gene leads ...

Authors: Isabelle Grosdemouge, Anne Bachelot, Aurélie Lucas, Nathalie Baran, Paul A Kelly and Nadine Binart

Ovarian follicle counts – not as simple as 1, 2, 3

Authors: Jonathan L Tilly

Important differences in nitric oxide synthase activity and predominant isoform in reproductive tissues from human and rat

For the extrapolation of data obtained from experimental animals to the human situation, it is important to know the similarities and differences between human and animal species. Some important characteristic...

Authors: S Batra, C Iosif, J Al-Hijji and I Larsson

The spatiotemporal expression pattern of the bone morphogenetic protein family in rat ovary cell types during the estrous cycle

In the mammalian ovary, great interest in the expression and function of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family has been recently generated from evidence of their critical role in determining folliculogen...

Authors: Gregory F Erickson and Shunichi Shimasaki

Apamin inhibits NO-induced relaxation of the spontaneous contractile activity of the myometrium from non-pregnant women

There is now considerable evidence for the involvement of K⁺ channels in nitric oxide (NO) induced relaxation of smooth muscles including the myometrium. In order to assess whether apamin-sensitive K⁺ channels pl...

Authors: Beata Modzelewska, Anna Kostrzewska, Marek Sipowicz, Tomasz Kleszczewski and Satish Batra

Effect of long-term treatment with steroid hormones or tamoxifen on the progesterone receptor and androgen receptor in the endometrium of ovariectomized cynomolgus macaques

The progesterone receptor (PR) and androgen receptor (AR) belong to the nuclear receptor superfamily. Two isoforms of PR (A and B) have been identified with different functions. The expression of AR, each isof...

Authors: Hong Wang, Erika Isaksson, Bo von Schoultz, J Mark Cline and Lena Sahlin

Ovarian responses to undernutrition in pregnant ewes, USA

In most mammals oogonia proliferate by mitosis and begin meiotic development during fetal life. Previous studies indicated that there is a delay in the progression to the first stage of meiotic arrest in germ ...

Authors: William J Murdoch, Edward A Van Kirk, Kimberly A Vonnahme and Stephen P Ford

Relaxin receptors and nitric oxide synthases: search for the missing link

Authors: Silvia Nistri and Daniele Bani

Differentiation of adult-type Leydig cells occurs in gonadotrophin-deficient mice

During mammalian testis development distinct generations of fetal and adult Leydig cells arise. Luteinising hormone (LH) is required for normal adult Leydig cell function and for the establishment of normal ad...

Authors: PJ Baker, H Johnston, M Abel, HM Charlton and PJ O'Shaughnessy

Rat testicular germ cells and sertoli cells release different types of bioactive transforming growth factor beta in vitro

Several in vivo studies have reported the presence of immunoreactive transforming growth factor-β's (TGF-β's) in testicular cells at defined stages of their differentiation. The most pronounced changes in TGF-β₁ ...

Authors: Bart L Haagmans, Jos W Hoogerbrugge, Axel PN Themmen and Katja J Teerds

Transmembrane and truncated (SEC) isoforms of MUC1 in the human endometrium and Fallopian tube

The cell surface mucin MUC1 is expressed by endometrial epithelial cells with increased abundance in the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, when it is found both at the apical cell surface and in secretio...

Authors: Neil A Hey, Marcos Meseguer, Carlos Simón, Nechama I Smorodinsky, Daniel H Wreschner, María Elena Ortíz and John D Aplin

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology – Choose an exciting venture for the scientific future

Authors: Antonin Bukovsky