It has been suggested that spermatozoa can deliver mRNAs to the oocyte during fertilisation. Using reverse transcription and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis (RQ-PCR), we evaluated the presence of clusterin (CLU), protamine 2 (PRM2), calmegin (CLGN), cAMP-response element modulator protein (CREM), methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), linker histone 1 (H1), protamine 1 (PRM1), TATA box-binding protein associated factor 1 (TAF1) and TATA box-binding protein (TBP) in porcine mature oocytes, zygotes and two-cell stage embryos. Spermatozoa isolated from semen samples of boars contained all transcripts investigated, whereas oocytes contained only CREM, H1, TAF1, and TBP mRNAs. The zygote and two-cell stage embryos contained CLU, CREM, H1, PRM1, PRM2, TAF1 and TBP transcripts. Our observations suggest that porcine spermatozoa may delivery CLU, PRM1 and PRM2 mRNAs to the oocyte, which may contribute to zygotic and early embryonic development.

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Endometritis-pyometra is the most frequent and complex pathology in domestic bitches. This process involves several immunological changes as well as molecular mechanisms responsible for inflammation in the female uterus. The various clinical stages of pyometra are associated with various symptoms. In this review, several aspects are described, including physiological and pathological mechanisms as well as molecular changes which take place during induction of endometritis-pyometra. The authors also highlight the important role of growth factors and their receptors in this process. It is well known that pyometra is a compound process which mainly involves immunological changes during inflammation. However, this review presents a new overview of this process, which includes changes at the molecular level, e.g., the altered expression of genes crucial for the development of this disease. Although pyometra is the most frequent disease of the reproductive tract in bitches, the molecular basis of this process is still not entirely understood.

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