title: Analysis of Stage-Specific Gene Expression Profiles in the Uterine Endometrium during Pregnancy in Pigs.
abstract: The uterine endometrium plays a critical role in regulating the estrous cycle and the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in mammalian species. Many studies have investigated the expression and function of genes in the uterine endometrium, but the global expression pattern of genes and relationships among genes differentially expressed in the uterine endometrium during gestation in pigs remain unclear. Thus, this study investigated global gene expression profiles using microarray in pigs. Diverse transcriptome analyses including clustering, network, and differentially expressed gene (DEG) analyses were performed to detect endometrial gene expression changes during the different gestation stages. In total, 6,991 genes were found to be differentially expressed by comparing genes expressed on day (D) 12 of pregnancy with those on D15, D30, D60, D90 and D114 of pregnancy, and clustering analysis of detected DEGs distinguished 8 clusters. Furthermore, several pregnancy-related hub genes such as ALPPL2, RANBP17, NF1B, SPP1, and CST6 were discovered through network analysis. Finally, detected hub genes were technically validated by quantitative RT-PCR. These results suggest the complex network characteristics involved in uterine endometrial gene expression during pregnancy and indicate that diverse patterns of stage-specific gene expression and network connections may play a critical role in endometrial remodeling and in placental and fetal development to establish and maintenance of pregnancy in pigs.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mingoo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Heewon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yohan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Inkyu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.|C&K Genomics, SNU Research Park, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Minseok
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Kyu
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Bioinformatics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.|Department of Animal Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.|C&K Genomics, SNU Research Park, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Heebal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hakhyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004717:Endometrium / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D011247:Pregnancy; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000235:genetics; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism*