Project description:To better characterize placentitis, we examined the sRNA expression patterns occurring in the endometrium, chorioallantois and serum of mares. Disease was induced in 10 mares via intracervical inoculation of Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus, either with moderate or high levels of inoculum; three un-inoculated gestationally-matched mares were used as controls. Matched chorioallantois and endometrium were sampled in two locations: region 1 - main lesion by cervical star with placental separation; and region 2 - gross inflammation without placental separation.
Project description:Horse-specific genes are not readily identified from available equine EST/cDNA resources due to relatively limited coverage. In addition, equine gene sets predicted in silico by Ensembl and NCBI will not identify horse specific genes since they rely on homology-based projection of gene structure annotation from other species. In this study, RNA-seq of 8 equine RNA samples representing 6 distinct tissues was performed and used to improve and refine equine gene structure annotation. The samples and RNA were collected as part of the related study E-GEOD-21925 and are described in Coleman et al 2010. Anim Genet 41 Suppl 2: 121-30 (PMID: 21070285). The RNA from these samples was re-sequenced in this experiment. The tissues were i). the articular cartilage and synovial membrane samples from a 3-year-old male pony. The left carpal joints received four LPS injections (0.5 ng) over 8 days, while the right carpal joints received control injections of PBS. ii) A cerebellum sample was collected from a 2-year-old female thoroughbred. iii) A testis sample from a 4-year-old thoroughbred. iv) A placental villous sample collected immediately post-partum from a full-term female thoroughbred foal. v) A whole embryo sample was obtained from a 34-day-old male thoroughbred conceptus. The embryo, cerebellum, testis and placental samples were of apparent normal gross morphology.
Project description:Placentitis was induced in six mares at approximately 290d of gestation (placentitis group), and six mares with gestationally age-matched (290 d) pregnancies did not receive any treatment (control group). For induction of placentitis in the former group, Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus was introduced intracervically.
Project description:The equine chorioallantois (CA) undergoes complex physical and biochemical changes during labor. However, the molecular mechanisms controlling these changes are still unclear. Therefore, the current study aimed to characterize the transcriptome of equine CA during spontaneous labor and compare it to that of normal preterm CA. Placental samples were collected postpartum from mares with normal term labor (TL group, n=4) and from preterm not in labor mares (330 days GA; PTNL group, n=4). Our study identified 4137 differentailly expressed genes (DEGs) (1820 upregulated and 2317 downregulated) in CA during TL as compared to PTNL. TL was associated with the upregulation of several pro-inflammatory mediators (MHC-I, MHC-II, NLRP3, CXCL8, and MIF). Also, TL was associated with the upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP1, MMP2, MMP3, and MMP9) with subsequent extracellular matrix degradation and apoptosis, as reflected by upregulation of several apoptosis-related genes (ATF3, ATF4, FAS, FOS, and BIRC3). In addition, TL was associated with downregulation of 21 transcripts coding for collagens. The upregulation of proteases, along with the downregulation of collagens, is believed to be implicated in separation and rupture of the CA during TL. Additionally, TL was associated with downregulation of transcripts coding for proteins essential for progestin synthesis (SRD5A1 and AKR1C1) and angiogenesis (VEGFA and RTL1), as well as upregulation of prostaglandin synthesis-related genes (PTGS2 and PTGES), which could reflect the physiological switch in placental endocrinology and function during TL. In conclusion, our findings revealed the equine CA gene expression signature in spontaneous labor at term, which improves our understanding of the molecular mechanisms triggering labor.
2024-11-08 | GSE188621 | GEO
Project description:Dynamics of equine placental DNA methylome
