Protein composition in the fluid of individual bovine follicles

Abstract

The proteins in follicular fluid from individual and pooled bovine follicles were studied by gel chromatography and quantitative immunoelectrophoresis. The mean protein concentration was 86\m=.\4% of serum; very large proteins were present in only low concentrations. A minimum of 40 individual proteins was distinguished in follicular fluid, and 15 of these proteins were quantitated. A correlation between molecular weight and follicular fluid:serum concentration ratio was found. Fluid from individual follicles differed only in the relative concentrations of small and large proteins. An exception to this was IgG which was occasionally, but never in healthy growing follicles, present in concentrations above 150% of serum. Healthy growing, preovulatory and atretic follicles had higher, and cystic follicles mostly lower, concentrations of small proteins than serum. The concentration of \g=a\2-macroglobulin in healthy growing follicles never exceeded 16% of serum. The concentration of large proteins in follicular fluid increased with increasing follicle size. Attempts to detect proteins specific to follicular fluid by immunizing rabbits with pooled follicular samples and the follicular fluid proteins not bound by anti-bovine antiserum resulted in production of antibodies against fibrinogen and its split products D + E only.

Concentrations of vitamin A, -carotene and vitamin E in individual bovine follicles of different quality

“…ß-Carotene, vitamin E and cholesterol are consequently bloodborne components whose intrafollicular concentrations are neither influenced by follicular size nor by follicular quality. This is also known to be true of proteins derived from blood (Andersen et al, 1976). …”

“…On the one hand, the highest concentration of vitamin A in the non-atretic follicle might be due to a transfer of vitamin A bound to its specific carrier protein, the retinol-binding protein-pre-albumin complex, from blood into follicular fluid. Components with a similar molecular weight, such as albumin, however, appear to have essentially free access to follicular fluid from serum and show no variation in concentration between individual follicles (Andersen et al, 1976). On the other hand, the higher concentration might be caused by a carotene-cleaving enzyme located in follicular structures.…”

Formation of ovarian follicular fluid may be due to the osmotic potential of large glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans

“…The composition of follicular fluid is similar to serum with respect to low molecular weight components with most electrolytes being at the same concentrations in fluid and serum (Shalgi et al 1972). However, for increasing sizes above 100 kDa, plasma proteins are found at progressively lower concentrations than in plasma (Perloff et al 1955, Keikhoffer et al 1962, Manarang-Pangan & Menge 1971, Shalgi et al 1973, Andersen et al 1976). This suggests that there is a diffuse nominal "blood-follicle barrier" at sizes O100 kDa.…”

The Roles of Vitamin A for Cytoplasmic Maturation of Bovine Oocytes

“…Dev. 51: [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] 2005) itamin A is one of the fat-soluble vitamins and is well known to regulate development, cellular growth and differentiation, and tissue function [1,2]. Since the earliest research into vitamin A function in cattle reproduction [3,4], vitamin A and its metabolites (Fig.…”

“…The BC is transported to and temporally stored in the liver via the lymph, but exclusively circulates in blood as the lipoprotein fraction [27]. Various kinds of molecules in the blood transit through the ovarian follicular basement membrane [28][29][30]. In fact, both BC and ROL exist in bovine follicular fluid [5,31,32] in proportion to their blood concentrations [31,32].…”