Expression of the estrogen and progesterone receptors and insulin-like growth factor-I genes in the porcine myometrium during early pregnancy
1998
Sahlin, L. (Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm (Sweden)) | Persson, E. | Masironi, B. | Rodriguez-Martinez, H. | Eriksson, H.
After conception and during early pregnancy in pigs, uterine motility plays a keyrole in sperm transport and embryo spacing prior to placentation. This process is modulated by gonadal steroids. Early pig embryos secrete estradiol with a peak d. 12-13 and estradiol elicits part of its influence on target cells in the genital tact via the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Therefore, in the present study, the levels of the estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), wa well as their mRNA and the IGF-I mRNA, were measured in the myometrium of early pregnant pigs by EIA and solution hybridization, in order to establish relationships among the expressions IGF-I, ER and PR during early pregnancy. The ER level was low on days 8-10 and decreased even further to very low levels on days 25-30 while the level of ER mRNA was unchanged during the same period. The Pr level was decreasing during the days monitored, although PR mRNA showed a tendency to increase from days 12-13 to days 25-30. The level of myometrial IGF-I mRNA was higher on days 25-30 as compared to days 8-18 indicating that myometrial IGF-I mRNA expression is not affected by the production of concepts estradiol on days 12-13. Significant correlations were found between the expressions of IGF-I mRNA and PR mRNA and between the levels of ER and PR. The results suggest that in the porcine myometrium the expression of IGF-I and Pr genes, respectively ER and PR, may have common regulating factors
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