Phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) mRNA expression is stimulated by developing embryos in the oviduct

Abstract

In mammal, fertilization and early preimplantation embryo development occurs in the oviduct. Evidence is accumulating that the oviductal epithelia secrete various biomolecules to the lumen during the secretory phase of the estrus cycle to enhance embryo development. This secretory activity of the oviduct is under the regulation of steroid hormones. Observations also suggested that the gametes and embryos modulate the physiology and gene-expressing pattern of the oviduct. However, the underlying molecular changes remain elusive. We hypothesize that the developing embryos interact with the surrounding environment and affect the gene expression patterns of the oviduct, thereby modulating the oviductal secretory activity conducive to the preimplantation embryo development. To test this hypothesis, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was used to compare the gene expressions in mouse oviduct containing transferred in vitro cultured preimplantation embryos with that of oviduct containing oocytes during the preimplantation period. We reported here the identification and characterization of phospholipids transfer protein (PLTP), which is highly expressed in the embryo-containing oviduct and localized at the oviductal epithelium by in situ hybridization. PLTP contains signal peptide putative for secretory function. More importantly, PLTP mRNA increases in the oviductal epithelia of pregnant, but not pseudo-pregnant mice when assayed by real-time PCR. Taken together, our data suggested that PLTP may play important role(s) during in vivo preimplantation embryo development. This molecule would be a target to delineate the mechanisms and the roles of oviductal secretory proteins on early embryonic development.

Oviductal secretion and gamete interaction

“…In addition, Lee et al (2005Lee et al ( , 2006 have analyzed the interaction between embryos and oviduct in mice and their results suggested that the presence of the embryo could affect the protein expression of the mouse oviductal epithelium, as shown for the phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) and the demilune cell and parotid protein.…”

“…In the presence of an embryo, the mouse oviductal epithelium secretes PLTP, which showed a higher expression in the embryo-containing oviduct than in the control oviduct (Lee et al 2005). As Pltp mRNA increased in the oviductal epithelia of pregnant mice, the authors suggested that it could be involved in in vivo preimplantation embryo development (Lee et al 2005).…”

“…As Pltp mRNA increased in the oviductal epithelia of pregnant mice, the authors suggested that it could be involved in in vivo preimplantation embryo development (Lee et al 2005).…”

Gene expression profiling of human peri-implantation endometria between natural and stimulated cycles

“…The cDNA product was diluted with distilled water to 50 mL final volume. The qPCR was performed on an iCycler (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA) as previously described (23). Primers were designed using Primer Premier v5.0 (Premier Biosoft International, Palo Alto, CA).…”

Regulation of complement‐3 protein expression in human and mouse oviducts

“…Using subtractive suppression hybridization, differential expression of a panel of genes including phospholipid transfer protein (Lee et al, 2005) and demilune cell parotid protein (Lee et al, 2006) were demonstrated between oviducts containing preimplantation embryos and those containing oocytes (Lee et al, 2002). It is not known whether preimplantation embryos would influence the production of oviductal C3.…”