title: Expression of hedgehog family genes in the rat uterus during early pregnancy.
abstract: Hedgehog (Hh) plays a pivotal role in various tissues during embryonic development, tissue homeostasis and tumorigenesis. In mammals, Hh exists in three homologs: Desert hedgehog (Dhh), Indian hedgehog (Ihh) and Sonic hedgehog (Shh). In this study, we cloned full-length cDNAs encoding Dhh and Ihh from the rat uterus. Their amino acid sequences have a high homology with those of the mouse and human. In addition, the changes of Hh gene expression in the rat uterus during early pregnancy were analyzed. The results showed that all three hedgehog mRNAs were detected in the rat uterus at the proestrus stage and during early pregnancy (1.5, 3.5, 5.5 and 7.5 days post coitus: dpc). Ihh mRNA expression varied and peaked at 3.5 dpc in the luminal and glandular epithelium. Expression was decreased on 5.5 dpc with the exception of sustained expression in the glandular epithelium. Despite such Ihh variability, the expressions of Dhh and Shh mRNA remained unchanged. This indicated that Ihh was mainly expressed in the rat uterus during early pregnancy. Moreover, the Hh target gene (glioma-associated oncogene homolog 1; Gli1) was also highly expressed at 3.5 dpc in the epithelium and periepithelial stroma in a manner similar to the temporal pattern of Ihh expression. This suggests that Ihh signaling axis play a role in the rat uterus during early pregnancy. In summary, our results elucidate that Ihh is a predominant Hh protein in the rat uterus during early pregnancy and that other Hhs have the potential to be expressed. This observation will help to elucidate the basic molecular mechanism of rat uterus during early pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Marine Bioresource Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaiyu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oozono
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aramaki
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soh
authors.forename: Masa-Aki
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hattori
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013997:Time Factors; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071676:Zinc Finger Protein GLI1
chemical_list: C498521:Gli1 protein, rat; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D051741:Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors; D000071676:Zinc Finger Protein GLI1