title: Porcine conceptus Oct-4 mRNA expression during peri-implantation development.
abstract: OCT-4 is a transcriptional regulator of pluripotent cells throughout embryonic and germ cell lineage development prior to cellular differentiation during murine, bovine and porcine peri-implantation development. In contrast to murine OCT-4 expression, bovine and porcine expression is detected in both the inner cell mass and trophoblast. Delayed down regulation of OCT-4 gene expression in farm species may be a consequence of the lengthened period of peri-implantation. Expression of OCT-4 mRNA has not been characterized during conceptus attachment to the uterine surface in the pig. The objective of the present study was to determine conceptus OCT-4 mRNA expression during porcine peri-implantation development from days 10-17 of gestation. Total RNA was extracted from multiple pools of conceptuses collected on days 10, 12, 13, 15 and 17 of pregnancy. Quantitative RT-PCR was utilized to assay conceptus OCT-4 mRNA synthesis. Day of conceptus development significantly affected (p < 0.001) OCT-4 mRNA expression. Conceptus expression of OCT-4 was greatest on days 10 and 12 of pregnancy being approximately 7.7- and 11.6-fold greater compared to expression on days 15 and 17, respectively. Results from the present study suggest that down regulation of OCT-4 may be critical in trophoblastic expansion and uterine epithelial attachment during establishment of pregnancy in the pig.
authors.affiliation: Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, Tulsa, OK, USA.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Ashworth
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Geisert
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Rickords
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000502:physiology*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; D012333:RNA, Messenger