title: Maternal metabolic stress may affect oviduct gatekeeper function.
abstract: We hypothesized that elevated non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) modifyin vitrobovine oviduct epithelial cell (BOEC) metabolism and barrier function. Hereto, BOECs were studied in a polarized system with 24-h treatments at Day 9: (1) control (0 µM NEFA + 0% EtOH), (2) solvent control (0 µM NEFA + 0.45% EtOH), (3) basal NEFA (720 µM NEFA + 0.45% EtOH in the basal compartment) and (4) apical NEFA (720 µM NEFA + 0.45% EtOH in the apical compartment). FITC-albumin was used for monolayer permeability assessment and related to transepithelial electric resistance (TER). Fatty acid (FA), glucose, lactate and pyruvate concentrations were measured in spent medium. Intracellular lipid droplets (LD) and FA uptake were studied using Bodipy 493/503 and immunolabelling of FA transporters (FAT/CD36, FABP3 and CAV1). BOEC-mRNA was retrieved for qRT-PCR. Results revealed that apical NEFA reduced relative TER increase (46.85%) during treatment and increased FITC-albumin flux (27.59%) compared to other treatments. In basal NEFA, FAs were transferred to the apical compartment as free FAs: mostly palmitic and oleic acid increased respectively 56.0 and 33.5% of initial FA concentrations. Apical NEFA allowed no FA transfer, but induced LD accumulation and upregulated FA transporter expression (↑CD36, ↑FABP3 and ↑CAV1). Gene expression in apical NEFA indicated increased anti-apoptotic (↑BCL2) and anti-oxidative (↑SOD1) capacity, upregulated lipid metabolism (↑CPT1,↑ACSL1and ↓ACACA) and FA uptake (↑CAV1). All treatments had similar carbohydrate metabolism and oviduct function-specific gene expression (OVGP1,ESR1andFOXJ1). Overall, elevated NEFAs affected BOEC metabolism and barrier function differently depending on NEFA exposure side. Data substantiate the concept of the oviduct as a gatekeeper that may actively alter early embryonic developmental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Veterinary Physiology and BiochemistryGamete Research Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium lies.jordaens@uantwerpen.be.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jordaens
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Veterinary Physiology and BiochemistryGamete Research Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Van Hoeck
authors.affiliation: INIAInstituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Maillo
authors.affiliation: INIAInstituto Nacional de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agraria y Alimentaria, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutierrez-Adan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Veterinary Physiology and BiochemistryGamete Research Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.|Department of TheriogenologyFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: W F A
authors.initials: WFA
authors.lastname: Marei
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Animal Nutrition and Animal Product QualityGhent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vlaeminck
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Cell Biology and HistologyCore Facility for Biomedical Microscopic Imaging, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thys
authors.affiliation: Hull York Medical SchoolCenter for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research, University of Hull, Hull, UK.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Sturmey
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Veterinary Physiology and BiochemistryGamete Research Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: P E J
authors.initials: PEJ
authors.lastname: Bols
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Veterinary Physiology and BiochemistryGamete Research Center, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: J L M R
authors.initials: JLMR
authors.lastname: Leroy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D010057:Oviducts / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified