title: mRNA expression in rabbit blastocyst and endometrial tissue of candidate gene involved in gestational losses.
abstract: Gestation is a complex process that involves different growth factors, cytokines and adhesion proteins related with embryo development, cellular differentiation and proliferation, embryo-endometrium interaction, angiogenesis, maternal-embryonic recognition and growth development of placenta and embryos. In this study, we examine pre-implantational (at 6 days of gestation) and gestational (at 12 days and total from ovulation to birth) losses in two rabbit lines selected by different criteria (post-weaning daily gain and litter size) and the pattern of a set of candidate transcripts, at 6 days of gestation, related with embryo development and implantation process, such as Oct-4, epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (erbB3), Transforming Growth Factor β2, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Interferon γ and related with insulin-like growth factors signalling as insulin growth factors I and II and their receptors in rabbit blastocysts and endometrial tissue. Similar pre-implantational losses were obtained in both lines. However, the gestational losses of the line selected by post-weaning daily gain clearly mirrored an increase in losses by 50% at 12 days and at birth (22.4 vs 9.5 and 50.2 vs 25.4, respectively, between line selected by post-weaning daily gain and line selected by litter size). In blastocysts and endometrial tissue at 6 days of gestation qRT-PCR assays indicated that the mean insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-IIR mRNA expression was down-regulated in line selected by post-weaning daily gain. Dysregulation of the IGF-IIR could be potential reasons for induced gestational losses. We conclude that IGF-IIR gene expression in blastocyst and endometrial tissue at 6th day of gestation tends to decline in line selected by post-weaning daily gain. The functional significance related with gestational losses is uncertain.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Animal, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Llobat
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marco-Jiménez
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Peñaranda
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thieme
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navarrete
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vicente
mesh_terms: D000034:Abortion, Veterinary / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000378:metabolism*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011817:Rabbits / Q000235:genetics*; D017527:Receptor, IGF Type 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017527:Receptor, IGF Type 2