title: Expression of follicle-stimulating hormone-receptor mRNA alternate transcripts in bovine granulosa cells during luteinization in vivo and in vitro.
abstract: In cattle, as in many other species, formation of the corpus luteum is associated with loss of sensitivity to FSH. To determine whether this is associated with changes in FSH-receptor mRNA levels or alternate splicing of the primary transcript, reverse transcription and the polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to examine transcripts during granulosa cell luteinization in vivo and in vitro. Using RT-PCR and Southern blotting, three alternate transcripts of the FSH-receptor were found consistently in bovine granulosa cells. The largest transcript encoded the full-length receptor while the other transcripts lacked either exon 9 or exons 4, 5 and 9. One day after luteinization in vivo, full-length FSH-receptor mRNA was detectable at low levels in the newly-formed corpus luteum. By day 3, however, no full-length transcripts were detectable in the corpus luteum. In contrast, when primers were used which amplify only the extracellular domain, FSH-receptor transcripts were detectable in all corpora lutea tested up to mid-cycle. In granulosa cells, luteinized in vitro, there was a similar loss of full-length FSH-receptor transcripts after day 1 but continued expression of transcripts encoding the extracellular domain. Results show that granulosa cell luteinization in cattle is associated with a change in splicing of the FSH-receptor primary transcript such that after luteinization only shortened transcripts coding for the extracellular domain are detectable. This process resembles, in reverse, changes in FSH-receptor transcript splicing during development of the gonads.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Physiology, University of Glasgow Veterinary School, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Rajapaksha
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: O'Shaughnessy
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006107:Granulosa Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011962:Receptors, FSH / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011962:Receptors, FSH