Bovine conceptus development and its association with placental proteins present in maternal, foetal and neonatal plasma and foetal (amniotic and allantoic) fluids were investigated in in vivo-and in vitro-produced (IVP) concepti and newborn calves. Females were superovulated to obtain control embryos, whereas IVP embryos were derived from established in vitro procedures. Pregnant animals were slaughtered on days 90 or 180 of gestation or allowed to develop to term for the assessment of physical traits. Foetal, maternal and neonatal blood and foetal fluids were collected for the determination of bovine placental lactogen (bPL) and bovine pregnancy-specific protein B (bPSPB) concentrations. Placental transcripts for bPL and bPSPB, determined by quantitative RT-PCR, were elevated in IVP placentomes. No major physical differences were observed between groups on day 90, but concentrations of bPL and bPSPB were higher in foetal plasma and allantoic fluid of IVP concepti in day 180 pregnancies, which were correlated with larger uterine and conceptus traits. Maternal concentrations of bPL in IVP pregnancies were lower than controls during the last 8 weeks of gestation, to become similar as parturition approached. Newborn IVP calves and foetal membranes were larger and displayed higher concentrations of plasma bPL than controls (10 and 60 min after birth). Our results indicated that differential patterns of secretion of bPL and bPSPB into the maternal and foetal systems occurred at distinct stages of gestation, and these were associated with altered conceptus development after in vitro embryo manipulations, indirectly demonstrating deviations in placental function in IVP pregnancies.
Reproduction (2006) 131 163-173
IntroductionWith the onset of the trophoblast apposition to the endometrium during the process of bovine placenta formation and development, large granulated cells, the trophoblast binucleate cells (BCs), migrate from the trophectoderm to fuse with uterine epithelial cells (Wooding 1992), forming short-lived trinucleate cells. This phenomenon occurs throughout pregnancy in cattle, but the number and period of existence of trinucleate cells decline towards the end of gestation (Wooding 1992, Green et al. 2000. Binucleate cells comprise about 20% of the trophoblast cells and are responsible for hormones and bioactive products important for the regulation of foetal growth and development (Anthony et al. 1995, Green et al. 2000, Schlafer et al. 2000. The contents of the membranebounded secretory granules of BCs are released by exocytosis towards the maternal capillary bed, reaching the maternal blood system (Wooding 1992). Many proteins are produced by the BCs, including placental lactogen (PL) and a range of glycoproteins (Wooding 1992), such as pregnancy-specific protein B (PSPB) (Butler et al. 1982).PL lactogen is a member of the growth hormone (GH)/prolactin (PRL) gene family synthesized and stored in secretory granules of the trophoblast BCs (Byatt et al. 1992a, Wooding 1992, Gootwine 2004. Although ...