title: Expression and distribution of forkhead activin signal transducer 2 (FAST2) during follicle development in mouse ovaries and pre-implantation embryos.
abstract: Xenopus forkhead activin signal transducer 1 (xFAST 1) was first characterized in Xenopus as the transcriptional partner for Smad proteins. FAST2, which is the xFAST 1 homologues in mouse, is expressed during early developmental stages of the organism. However, the function of FAST2 in mouse ovaries and pre-implantation embryos is unclear. Therefore, we investigated its expression during these processes. In postnatal mice, FAST2 was expressed in oocytes and thecal cells from postnatal day (PD) 1 to PD 21. In gonadotropin-induced immature mice, FAST2 was expressed in oocytes, thecal cells and newly formed corpora lutea (CLs), but was expressed at a lower level in degenerated CLs. Similar results were observed upon western blot analyses. In meloxicam-treated immature mice, ovulation was inhibited and FAST2 was expressed in thecal cells, luteinized granulosa cells and entrapped oocytes. Immunofluorescence results showed that FAST2 was expressed in the cytoplasm and nucleus but not the nucleolus from the zygote to 8-cell embryo stage, after which it was localized to the cytoplasm of the morulae and inner cell mass of the blastocysts. Taken together, these observations suggest that FAST2 is expressed in a cell-specific manner during ovarian follicle development, ovulation, luteinization and early embryonic development, and that FAST2 might play important roles in these physiological processes.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, 88 East Wenhua Road, Ji'nan, Shandong, 250014, China.
authors.forename: Guiping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, 88 East Wenhua Road, Ji'nan, Shandong, 250014, China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, 88 East Wenhua Road, Ji'nan, Shandong, 250014, China.
authors.forename: Shujuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance Research, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, 88 East Wenhua Road, Ji'nan, Shandong, 250014, China; Center for Reproductive Medicine, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200135, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory for Assisted Reproduction and Reproductive Genetics, Shanghai 200135, China. Electronic address: zhangxinyunlife@163.com.
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D028341:Activins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology; D003338:Corpus Luteum / Q000378:metabolism*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000378:metabolism*; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism*; D010060:Ovulation / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; C491117:Foxh1 protein, mouse; D028341:Activins
keywords: CLs; FAST2; Ovaries; Pre-implantation embryos