title: Transitional gene expression profiling in ovarian follicle during ovulation in normal-cycle rats.
abstract: Evaluation of ovarian toxicity requires an understanding of the physiological changes related to the estrous cycle in the ovary. The authors investigated the transitional gene expression profile of ovulatory follicles in rats that show normal estrous cyclicity. Ovaries were collected at 10:00 and 22:00 on the proestrus day and at 10:00 on the estrus day. Ovarian follicles or early corpora lutea were isolated using laser microdissection, and extracted total RNA was analyzed using microarray technology. Clustering analysis revealed four different expression patterns: transient up- or down-regulation only at 22:00 on the proestrus day (pattern 1), up- or down-regulation only at 10:00 on the estrus day (pattern 2), continuous increase at 22:00 on the proestrus day and at 10:00 on the estrus day (pattern 3), and up- or down-regulation at 22:00 on the proestrus day and level maintenance at 10:00 on the estrus day (pattern 4). In addition, these probe sets were functionally categorized in each pattern using the Ingenuity Pathways Analysis database. These data will aid in understanding the physiology of ovulation and may be useful in assessing ovarian toxicity and its mechanism, such as in investigations of chemical-induced ovulatory impairment.
authors.affiliation: Toxicologic Pathology, Drug Safety Research Laboratories, Astellas Pharma Inc., Osaka, Japan. kenjiro.tsubota@jp.astellas.com
authors.forename: Kenjiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsubota
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanki
authors.forename: Takahisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noto
authors.forename: Katsuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shiraki
authors.forename: Ayano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakatsuji
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seki
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakayama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000502:physiology; D015536:Down-Regulation; D004971:Estrus / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D042282:Microdissection; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000378:metabolism*; D010060:Ovulation / Q000235:genetics*; D011359:Proestrus / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015854:Up-Regulation