Tissue-type plasminogen activator and its inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 are coordinately expressed during ovulation in the rhesus monkey.
Ovulation is a gonadotropin-controlled process that is essential for the propagation of all mammalian species. In the present study, we used a pregnant mare serum gonodotropin/human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-induced, synchronized ovulation model in rhesus monkeys and systematically investigated the roles of the plasminogen activator (PA) system in the ovulatory process of the primate. At different follicular developmental stages throughout the periovulatory period, samples of ovaries, granulosa cells, and theca-interstitial cells as well as follicular fluid were collected, and levels of PA and PA inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) were evaluated by fibrin overlay, reverse fibrin overlay, Northern blot analysis, and in situ hybridization, respectively. We showed that in response to an injection of ovulation-triggering hCG, which mimics the preovulatory surge of LH in the circulation, granulosa cell-derived tissue-type PA (tPA) was substantially elevated in preovulatory follicles and reached its maximum level just before ovulation. Although theca-interstitial cell-derived PAI-1 was also stimulated by pregnant mare serum gonodotropin and hCG treatments, however, the maximum level of PAI-1 appeared 12 h earlier than that of tPA. When ovulation approached, accompanying the highest tPA level in the preovulatory follicles, the follicular PAI-1 level declined dramatically to its minimum value. Moreover, our data on the expression of follicular PA and PAI-1 over the periovulatory period were reinforced by results obtained at the mRNA level. Our data suggest that the coordinated expression of tPA and PAI-1 may be of importance for the follicular rupture process during ovulation in the primate.
Liu
Yi-Xun
YX
State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China. liuyx@panda.ioz.ac.cn
Liu
Kui
K
Feng
Qiang
Q
Hu
Zhao-Yuan
ZY
Liu
Hai-Zhen
HZ
Fu
Guo-Qing
GQ
Li
Yin-Chuan
YC
Zou
Ru-Jin
RJ
Ny
Tor
T
D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D015571:Follicular Fluid / Q000378:metabolism; D006064:Gonadotropins, Equine / Q000494:pharmacology; D006107:Granulosa Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D010060:Ovulation / Q000378:metabolism*; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010960:Plasminogen Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D013799:Theca Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism
D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D006064:Gonadotropins, Equine; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D010960:Plasminogen Activators; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator