Project description:Transcriptional profiling of the luteinizing hormone surge in bovine granulosa cells (GC) during the pre-ovulation period comparing 2 h pre-LH GC, 6 h post-LH GC and 22 h post-LH GC
Project description:A surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland triggers ovulation, oocyte maturation, and luteinization for successful reproduction in mammals. Since the signaling molecules RAS and ERK1/2 are activated by a LH surge in granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles, we disrupted Erk1/2 in mouse granulosa cells and provide in vivo evidence that these kinases are necessary for LH-induced oocyte resumption of meiosis, ovulation, and luteinization. In addition, biochemical analyses and selected disruption of the Cebpb gene in granulosa cells demonstrate that C/EBP is a critical downstream mediator of ERK1/2 activation. These mouse models provide in vivo systems in which to define the context specific and molecular mechanisms by which granulosa cells respond to LH and these mechanisms are relevant to the regulation of human fertility and infertility. Immature wild type or ERK1/2 conditonal knock-out mice were injected with 5IU equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG)-48h followed by 5 IU hCG injection. The ovarian granulosa cells were collected at hCG 0h, 2.5h, or 4h and the gene expression pforiles were compared by microarray method.
Project description:A surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland triggers ovulation, oocyte maturation, and luteinization for successful reproduction in mammals. Since the signaling molecules RAS and ERK1/2 are activated by a LH surge in granulosa cells of preovulatory follicles, we disrupted Erk1/2 in mouse granulosa cells and provide in vivo evidence that these kinases are necessary for LH-induced oocyte resumption of meiosis, ovulation, and luteinization. In addition, biochemical analyses and selected disruption of the Cebpb gene in granulosa cells demonstrate that C/EBP is a critical downstream mediator of ERK1/2 activation. These mouse models provide in vivo systems in which to define the context specific and molecular mechanisms by which granulosa cells respond to LH and these mechanisms are relevant to the regulation of human fertility and infertility.
Project description:The LH surge induces panoply of events that are essential for ovulation and corpus luteum formation. The transcriptional responses to the LH surge of pre-ovulatory granulosa cells are complex and still poorly understood. In the present study, a genome wide bovine oligo array was used to determine how the gene expression profiles of granulosa cells are modulated by the LH surge. Granulosa cells from three different statuses were used (1) 2 h before the induction of the LH surge, (2) 6 h and (3) 22 h after the LH surge to assess the short and long term effects of this hormone on follicle differentiation. The results obtained were a list of differentially expressed transcripts for each granulosa cell group. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the processes at play, biological annotations were used to reveal the different functions of transcripts, confirming that the LH surge acts in a temporal manner. The pre-LH group is involved in typical tasks such as cell division, development and proliferation, while the short response of the LH surge included features such as response to stimulus, vascularisation and lipid synthesis, which are indicative of cells preparing for ovulation. The late response of granulosa cells revealed terms associated with protein localization and intra-cellular transport corresponding to the future secretion task that will be required for the transformation of granulosa cells into corpus luteum. Overall, results described in this study provide new insights into the different transcriptional steps that granulosa cells go through during ovulation and before luteinization. Three biological granulosa cells samples: 2 h pre-LH vs. 6 h post-LH vs. 22 h post-LH. Biological replicates: 3 with a technical dye-swap replicates (Dy 547 and Dy 647) for each biological replicate. Hybridizations were performed in a loop design for a total a 9 hybridizations.
Project description:The nuclear steroid hormone receptor Progesterone Receptor (PGR) is expressed in granulosa cells in the ovarian follicle in a tightly regulated pattern in response to the surge of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) that stimulates ovulation. PGR plays a critical role in mediating ovulation in response to LH, however the mechanism for this is still unknown. Using the KGN human granulosa cell line expressing the primary PGR isoforms PGR-A or PGR-B, we performed immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry to identify novel interacting proteins that regulate PGR function in these ovary-specific target cells. Proteomic analysis revealed protein interactions with both PGR isoforms that were gained (e.g. transcriptional coactivators) or lost (e.g. chaperone proteins) in response to the PGR agonist R5020. Additionally, isoform-specific interactions, including different families of transcriptional regulators, were identified. Comparison with published datasets of PGR interacting proteins in human breast cancer cell lines and decidualised endometrial stromal cells demonstrated a remarkable number of tissue-specific interactions, shedding light on how PGR can maintain diverse functions in different tissues. In conclusion, our dataset provides new insights into ovary-specific PGR transcriptional mechanisms.
Project description:The preovulatory luteinizing hormone surge orchestrates complex cellular and molecular events leading to ovulation. CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins alpha and beta (C/EBPα/β) are transcription factors acutely induced by the luteinizing hormone surge and crucial for ovulation and granulosa cell luteinization. However, biological processes and their regulatory mechanisms downstream of C/EBPα/β in the preovulatory ovary are not completely understood. To address this knowledge gap, we generated Cebpa/bfl/fl;Pgr-Cre mutants and compared them with Cebpa/bfl/fl;Cyp19a1-Cre mutant female mice. The Cebpa/bfl/fl;Cyp19a1-Cre mutants have undetectable levels of C/EBPα/β throughout preovulatory stages and no ovulation, aligning with previous reports, while Cebpa/bfl/fl;Pgr-Cre mutants presented gradual deletion of C/EBPα/β during late preovulatory stage and reduced ovulation rate. Comparison of these two models indicates that sustained expression of C/EBPα/β throughout preovulatory stages is necessary for successful ovulation. This provides a unique opportunity to interrogate gene regulatory mechanisms by C/EBPα/β during different preovulatory time windows and the impact of dysregulating C/EBPα/β on ovulation-associated biological processes. Our study revealed that C/EBPα/β regulate gene expression and distinct biological functions via preovulatory stage-, dose-, and/or potentially isoform ratio- dependent mechanisms. These findings shed new light on the intricate gene regulation mechanisms by C/EBPα/β downstream of the LH surge.
Project description:The LH surge induces panoply of events that are essential for ovulation and corpus luteum formation. The transcriptional responses to the LH surge of pre-ovulatory granulosa cells are complex and still poorly understood. In the present study, a genome wide bovine oligo array was used to determine how the gene expression profiles of granulosa cells are modulated by the LH surge. Granulosa cells from three different statuses were used (1) 2 h before the induction of the LH surge, (2) 6 h and (3) 22 h after the LH surge to assess the short and long term effects of this hormone on follicle differentiation. The results obtained were a list of differentially expressed transcripts for each granulosa cell group. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the processes at play, biological annotations were used to reveal the different functions of transcripts, confirming that the LH surge acts in a temporal manner. The pre-LH group is involved in typical tasks such as cell division, development and proliferation, while the short response of the LH surge included features such as response to stimulus, vascularisation and lipid synthesis, which are indicative of cells preparing for ovulation. The late response of granulosa cells revealed terms associated with protein localization and intra-cellular transport corresponding to the future secretion task that will be required for the transformation of granulosa cells into corpus luteum. Overall, results described in this study provide new insights into the different transcriptional steps that granulosa cells go through during ovulation and before luteinization.
Project description:Granulosa cells from three different stages were used to assess the short- and long-term effects of luteinizing hormone (LH) on follicle differentiation: 1) 2 h before induction of the LH surge, 2) 6 h and 3) 22 h after the LH surge.