Changes in progesterone and oestrogen receptor mRNA and protein during maternal recognition of pregnancy and luteolysis in ewes

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
T L Ott ◽  
Y Zhou ◽  
M A Mirando ◽  
C Stevens ◽  
J P Harney ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT This study characterized changes in levels of mRNA and protein for endometrial oestrogen receptors (ERs) and progesterone receptors (PRs) during luteolysis and maternal recognition of pregnancy. For cyclic and pregnant ewes, endometrium was collected on days 10, 12, 14, or 16 post-oestrus (4 ewes/day for each status) for the measurement of ER and PR mRNA and protein. The amount of receptor mRNA is expressed in relative units above background, measured from radiographs of dot-blot hybridization of total endometrial RNA with ER and PR cDNAs. At hysterectomy, jugular vein blood samples were collected and assayed for progesterone, total corpus luteum weight was recorded and, in vitro, endometrial oxytocin-stimulated inositol phosphate formation was estimated. In pregnant ewes, plasma progesterone increased gradually between days 10 and 16 (P<0·01), corpus luteum weight was stable at approximately 08 g and oxytocin did not stimulate endometrial formation of inositol phosphates in vitro. In contrast, in cyclic ewes, plasma progesterone decreased from day 10 to day 16 (P<0·01), corpus luteum weight decreased after day 14 to approximately 0·48 g (P=0·05) and oxytocin stimulated an increase of approximately 1300% in the endometrial formation of inositol phosphates on day 16. cDNAs specifically hybridized with 1·6 and 31 kb transcripts for PR mRNA and a 6·5 kb transcript for ER mRNA. In cyclic ewes, the amount of PR mRNA increased from day 10 to maximum levels on days 14–16. The number of PRs decreased from day 10 (225 pmol/mg DNA) to day 12 (0·98 pmol/mg DNA) and then increased from day 14 to day 16 (2·8 pmol/mg DNA). In pregnant ewes, PR mRNA levels were greatest on days 10–12 and decreased by approximately 50% by day 16. In contrast, the number of PRs was relatively unchanged from day 10 to day 16 (1·53 to 103 pmol/mg DNA). In cyclic ewes, the amount of ER mRNA was lowest at day 10 and increased fivefold by day 16. The number of ERs remained relatively unchanged from day 10 to day 14 (607 pmol/mg DNA) and increased by day 16 (1612 pmol/mg DNA). In pregnant ewes, ER mRNA decreased by approximately 80% from day 12 to day 16. Similarly, the number of ERs decreased from day 10 to day 16 (5·41 to 205 pmol/mg DNA). Correlations between ER mRNA and PR mRNA (r=0·68), ERs and PRs (r = 0·50) and ER mRNA and ERs (r=0·50) were high (P<0·01). PR mRNA and PRs, PR mRNA and ERs, and ER mRNA and PRs were not correlated (P>0·1). Pregnancy had the apparent effect of stabilizing the number of endometrial PRs and inhibiting ER production by decreasing both the amount of ER mRNA and ER protein.

1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Van Bael ◽  
R Huygen ◽  
B Himpens ◽  
C Denef

ABSTRACT We have studied the effect of LHRH and neuropeptide Y (NPY) on prolactin (PRL) mRNA levels in pituitary reaggregate cell cultures from 14-day-old female rats, by means of in situ hybridization and Northern blot analysis. As estimated by computer-image analysis, addition of LHRH on day 5 in culture for 40 h resulted in a 37% increase in the total cytoplasmic areas of cells containing PRL mRNA, visualized using a digoxigenin-labelled PRL cRNA. The size of individual PRL-expressing cells was not influenced, nor was the content of PRL mRNA per cell. A similar effect of LHRH was found by dot blot hybridization of extracted RNA. PRL mRNA levels were not affected by NPY. LHRH induced a 29% increase in the number of PRL mRNA-expressing cells processing through the S phase of the cell cycle, visualized by the incorporation of [3H]thymidine ([3H]T) into DNA over 16 h. The fraction of [3H]T-labelled cells was 10–12% of the total cell population. NPY did not influence the number of [3H]T-positive cells expressing PRL mRNA, but completely blocked the effect of LHRH on the latter population. The present data suggest that LHRH, probably via a paracrine action of gonadotrophs, stimulates the recruitment of new lactotrophs, an action which is negatively modulated by NPY. Since the magnitude of this effect was the same in the total pituitary cell population as in cells processing through the S phase of the cell cycle and presumably mitosis, recruitment of lactotrophs seems to be based on differentiation of progenitor or immature cells into PRL-expressing cells, rather than on a mitogenic action on pre-existing lactotrophs alone.


Biologia ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Klaudiny ◽  
Katarína Bachanová ◽  
Lenka Kohútová ◽  
Mária Dzúrová ◽  
Ján Kopernický ◽  
...  

AbstractHoneybee brood food, larval jelly (LJ) contains antimicrobial peptide defensin1 that is able to inhibit in vitro growth of the pathogen causing American foulbrood (AFB). This fact suggests that LJ defensin1 could participate in defense of colonies against AFB. We assume that the potential defense function of defensin1 in vivo might depend on its amount in LJs. Therefore, we investigated the expression of defensin1 in colonies. The expression was examined on protein and mRNA levels in colonies of several Apis mellifera carnica lines collected in 3 apiaries (1 infected with AFB) with the aim to identify factors influencing the expression. Levels of defensin1 were determined in royal and worker jellies by a developed immunoblot procedure employing antibodies generated against the recombinant peptide. Defensin1 mRNA levels in nurse heads were explored by dot blot hybridization using transcript of two MRJP genes for normalization. Analyzed LJs contained various amounts of defensin1 (0.159–0.524 μg/mg jelly). Higher variations in defensin1 levels were observed among LJ samples collected from different colonies than among those collected within single colony. Colonies producing LJs with elevated defensin1 levels occurred among various honeybee lines. Levels of defensin1 mRNA varied in heads of nurses and the variations correlated with defensin1 peptide levels in LJs only in some colonies. Obtained data demonstrate that defensin1 is constitutively expressed into LJs in colonies and indicate that its levels in jellies are determined by genetic factors regulating transcription and/or translation/posttranslation processes in nurses. AFB infection, larval age and type of LJ do not seem to affect the levels of the peptide in LJs. Findings made in this work suggest that it should be possible to breed novel honeybee lines expressing higher amounts of defensin1 into LJs.


1997 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 1926-1931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuharu Fujii ◽  
Takeshi Shibata ◽  
Sachiko Homma ◽  
Haruo Ikegami ◽  
Kazuo Murakami ◽  
...  

Fujii, Nobuharu, Takeshi Shibata, Sachiko Homma, Haruo Ikegami, Kazuo Murakami, and Hitoshi Miyazaki. Exercise-induced changes in β-adrenergic-receptor mRNA level measured by competitive RT-PCR. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(6): 1926–1931, 1997.—Competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was used to clarify whether dynamic exercise-induced increases in β-adrenergic-receptor (β-AR) number in human lymphocytes are accompanied by increases in the β-AR mRNA level. Sixteen healthy subjects performed cycle ergometry until exhaustion. Before and immediately after exercise, peripheral blood was drawn from a forearm vein for preparation of lymphocytes. Both the β-AR mRNA level and the β-AR number were significantly increased by exercise. The changes in β-AR mRNA level and β-AR number were significantly correlated ( r = 0.63, P < 0.01). This finding suggests that a rapid increase in β-AR mRNA level might be an early adaptive response of the sympathetic nervous system to dynamic exercise. In vitro incubation of lymphocytes with epinephrine had no effect on β-AR mRNA levels, nor did adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate, protein kinase C, or intracellular Ca2+ increase the β-AR mRNA level in vitro. Therefore, it appears that other mechanisms underlie the exercise-induced elevation of β-AR mRNA levels in human lymphocytes.


1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker Schuster ◽  
Bertfried Matz ◽  
Helga Wiegand ◽  
Brigitte Traub ◽  
Dieter Neumann-Haefelin

1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1327-1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Hay ◽  
Y Aloni

Studies were performed to verify the physiological significance of attenuation in the life cycle of simian virus 40 and the role of agnoprotein in this process. For these purposes, nuclei were isolated at various times after infection and incubated in vitro in the presence of [alpha-32P]UTP under the standard conditions which lead to attenuation. Attenuation was evident by the production of a 94-nucleotide attenuator RNA, revealed by gel electrophoresis. In parallel, the synthesis of agnoprotein was studied at various times after infection by labeling the cells for 3 h with [14C]arginine, lysing them, and analyzing the labeled proteins by gel electrophoresis. Both attenuation and the synthesis of agnoprotein were predominant towards the end of the infectious cycle. At earlier times, there was almost no attenuation and no synthesis of agnoprotein. Moreover, there was almost no attenuation even at the latest times after infection in nuclei isolated from cells infected with simian virus 40 deletion mutants that do not synthesize agnoprotein. Finally, analysis by dot blot hybridization showed higher amounts of cytoplasmic viral RNA in cells infected with an agnoprotein gene insertion mutant, delta 79, that does not produce agnoprotein, compared with cells infected with wild-type virus. The present studies indicate that attenuation is temporally regulated and suggest that agnoprotein enhances attenuation in isolated nuclei and that may also enhance it in vivo.


Blood ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 71 (5) ◽  
pp. 1357-1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
SP Cai ◽  
JZ Zhang ◽  
DH Huang ◽  
ZX Wang ◽  
YW Kan

Abstract We describe a simple approach for detecting beta-thalassemia mutations in geographic areas such as southern China where multiple mutations are known to occur. Segments of the beta-globin gene were amplified in vitro by using the polymerase chain reaction. Dot blot hybridization of the amplified DNA with oligonucleotide probes corresponding to the six mutations found in southern China could directly identify the mutations causing beta-thalassemia in the affected families. The increased number of target sequences after amplification allows the use of 35S-labeled probes, which are reusable for up to 3 months. The mutations can be determined in two days.


1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (2) ◽  
pp. L183-L191 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Liedtke

A role for phospholipase C (PLC) hydrolysis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) as a mechanism of alpha 1-adrenergic signal transduction in human airway epithelial cells (AEC) was investigated in isolated normal tracheal and cystic fibrosis (CF) nasal epithelial cells grown in in vitro culture and prelabeled with 3 muCi myo-[3H]inositol/ml for 72 h. Breakdown of polyphosphoinositides was measured using thin-layer chromatography to detect phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP), and PIP2. Inositol phosphates were separated by ion-exchange column chromatography. In normal AEC, the addition of the endogenous catecholamine l-epinephrine produced a rapid, transient accumulation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and inositol 1,4-bisphosphate (IP2) and breakdown of PIP and PIP2. IP3 increased 1.7-fold and IP2 1.6-fold after 20 and 40 s, respectively. A maximal decrease of 35% PIP2 and 30% PIP is observed after 20 and 40 s, respectively. The effects of l-epinephrine were not blocked by the beta-adrenergic antagonist dl-propranolol but were mimicked by the alpha 1-adrenergic agonist methoxamine. Prazosin, an alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist, and pertussis toxin (PTX) blocked the effects of l-epinephrine and methoxamine. Addition of l-epinephrine and methoxamine to CF nasal epithelial cells also induced prazosin-sensitive polyphosphoinositide breakdown and inositol phosphate accumulation. A 2.2-fold accumulation of IP3 was observed after 10 s and 2.0-fold increase in IP2 after 20 s. Maximal decreases of 32% PIP2 and 23% PIP levels were observed after 20-s incubation with l-epinephrine. PTX reduced the effects of l-epinephrine and significantly blocked the effects of methoxamine.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


2009 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. 2399-2407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca C. Flanagan ◽  
Jason M. Neal-McKinney ◽  
A. Singh Dhillon ◽  
William G. Miller ◽  
Michael E. Konkel

ABSTRACT Campylobacter jejuni colonization of chickens is presumably dependent upon multiple surface-exposed proteins termed adhesins. Putative C. jejuni adhesins include CadF, CapA, JlpA, major outer membrane protein, PEB1, Cj1279c, and Cj1349c. We examined the genetic relatedness of 97 C. jejuni isolates recovered from human, poultry, bovine, porcine, ovine, and canine sources by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and examined their profile of putative adhesin-encoding genes by dot blot hybridization. To assess the individual contribution of each protein in bacterium-host cell adherence, the C. jejuni genes encoding the putative adhesins were disrupted by insertional mutagenesis. The phenotype of each mutant was judged by performing in vitro cell adherence assays with chicken LMH hepatocellular carcinoma epithelial cells and in vivo colonization assays with broiler chicks. MLST analysis indicated that the C. jejuni isolates utilized in this study were genetically diverse. Dot blot hybridization revealed that the C. jejuni genes encoding the putative adhesins, with the exception of capA, were conserved among the isolates. The C. jejuni CadF, CapA, Cj1279c, and Cj1349c proteins were found to play a significant role in the bacterium's in vitro adherence to chicken epithelial cells, while CadF, PEB1, and Cj1279c were determined to play a significant role in the bacterium's in vivo colonization of broiler chicks. Collectively, the data indicate that Cj1279c is a novel adhesin. Because Cj1279c harbors fibronectin type III domains, we designated the protein FlpA, for fibronectin-like protein A.


1986 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-208
Author(s):  
M. Devchand ◽  
M. Kapoor

In Neurospora crassa, there is a single pyruvate kinase (PK) consisting of four identical subunits of ∼60k daltons. Northern and dot blot hybridization studies, using most of the yeast pyruvate kinase gene as a probe, suggest the presence of two distinct mRNA species for pyruvate kinase, separable on the basis of the length of their polyadenylated tails, by oligo(dT)cellulose chromatography. These messages are present in polysomes, immuno-precipitated by anti-PK antibodies, indicating probable translation in vivo. Fractions containing both messages were translated in vitro in the heterologous systems as well as in a homologous N. crassa lysate, the newly-synthesized PK being detected by immunoadsorption. Protection studies using S1-nuclease suggest no major structural differences in the 5′-untranslated and most of the coding regions of the two messages.


1992 ◽  
Vol 184 (1) ◽  
pp. 367-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masanobu Yamada ◽  
Tuyoshi Monden ◽  
Teturou Satoh ◽  
Masahiko Iizuka ◽  
Masami Murakami ◽  
...  

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