Cloning of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and its expression in the uterus during embryonic diapause and implantation in the mink (Mustela vison).
Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is essential for embryo implantation in mice. Whether LIF plays a role in termination of embryonic diapause and initiation of implantation in carnivores, especially in species with obligate delayed implantation such as the mink, is not known. The objectives of this study were to clone the LIF coding sequence in the mink and determine its mRNA abundance in the uterus through embryonic diapause, implantation, and early postimplantation. We show that the mink LIF cDNA contains 609 nt encoding a deduced protein of 203 amino acids. The homologies are 80.6, 90, 88.2, 87.6, and 86.8% in coding sequence and 79.2, 90.1, 91, 90.1 and 85.4% in amino acid sequence with mouse, human, pig, cow, and sheep respectively. Glycosylation sites and disulfide bonds present in other species are generally conserved in the mink LIF sequence. Quantitation by polymerase chain reaction amplification indicates that LIF mRNA is expressed in mink uterus just prior to implantation and during the first two days after implantation, but not during diapause or later after implantation pregnancy. The abundance of LIF mRNA was significantly higher in the uterus at the embryo expansion stage (P < 0.05) than at days 1-2 of postimplantation. By immunohistochemical localization it was shown that LIF is expressed in the uterine epithelial glands at time of embryonic expansion and in early postimplantation. The coincidence of LIF expression with implantation in this species suggests that LIF is involved in the implantation process, and may be a maternal signal which terminates obligate embryonic diapause.
Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Animale, Faculté de Médicine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, St-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada.
J H
JH
Song
A
A
Houde
B D
BD
Murphy
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D010064:Embryo Implantation; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006131:Growth Inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D015850:Interleukin-6; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008907:Mink; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011247:Pregnancy; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014599:Uterus / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D015850:Interleukin-6; C507837:LIF protein, human; D053605:Leukemia Inhibitory Factor; C507838:Lif protein, mouse; D008222:Lymphokines