Project description:Spermatozoa being foreign to the female are to be promptly eliminated after deposition by the local immune defense of female. However, avoiding the local immune defense sperm can be stored in the utero-vaginal junction for weeks and keep their fertilization ability. Whether, UVJ changes their gene expression after mating or SF-infusion to tolerate thjose forign cells are not understood. Therefore this study was done to observe the gene expression in the utero-vaginal junction after mating or SF-infusion.
Project description:Sperms being foreign to the female are to be promptly eliminated by the female local immune defense. However, avoiding the local immune defense sperm can be stored for lenthy period in the oviductal sperm reservoir. It is currently unknown whether oviductal sperm reservoirs changes their gene expression to tolerate the spermatozoa after mating or sperm free seminal plasma infusion. Therefore this was tested using Swedish Landrace pigs in this study using cDNA microarray. We used 12 sows seperated into three groups- either oestrus sows were inseminated with 50 ml BTS (control, n=4) or mated with boars (treatment 1, n=4) or inseminated with sperm-free seminal plasma (treatment 2, n=4). The utero-tubal junction was retrieved within 24 h of treatment by operation.
Project description:To examine the effect of seminal fluid on the whole genome expression profile of endometrial tissue following mating, RNA was extracted from endometrial tissue collected 8 h after CBAF1 females were mated with intact Balb/c males and compared to RNA from endometrial tissue of females mated with seminal fluid deficient SVX/VAS Balb/c males. This comparison controlled for ovarian hormone status, exposure to the male and mating activity, and the neuroendocrine response to cervical and vaginal stimulus at mating, so that changes in endometrial gene expression could be attributed specifically to contact with seminal fluid. The endometrial RNA from n=16 individual females was pooled into four independent biological replicates per treatment group (n=4 endometrial samples per replicate) and expression profiles were analyzed by Affymetrix microarray. Seminal fluid exposure induced a clear difference in the profile of genes expressed in the endometrium with a total of 335 genes were differentially regulated with a fold-change greater than 1.5 and p<0.05. Of these, 190 genes were upregulated and 145 genes were downregulated following contact with seminal fluid. Bioinformatics analysis revealed TLR4 signaling as a strongly predicted upstream regulator activated by the differentially expressed genes.Additional experiments confirmed the role of TLR4 with the absence of TLR4 in TLR4 null mice resulting in a failure for seminal fluid to induce endometrial Csf3, Cxcl2, Il6 and Tnf expression. This study provides evidence that TLR4 contributes to seminal fluid modulation of the periconception immune environment. Activation of TLR4 signaling by microbial or endogenous components of seminal fluid is thus implicated as a key element of the female tract response to seminal fluid at the outset of pregnancy in mice.
Project description:Honey bee queens undergo dramatic behavioral (e.g., reduced sexual receptivity), physiological (e.g., ovary activation, ovulation, and modulation of pheromone production) and molecular changes after they complete mating. To elucidate how queen post-mating changes are influenced by seminal fluid, a non-spermatozoa-containing component of semen, we injected queens with semen or seminal fluid alone. We assessed queen sexual receptivity, ovary development, worker retinue response (which is influenced by queen pheromone production), and transcriptional changes in queen abdominal fat body and brain tissues. Injection with either seminal fluid or semen resulted in decreased sexual receptivity, increased attractiveness of queens to workers, and altered expression of several genes that are also regulated in naturally mated queens. The post-mating and transcriptional changes of queens receiving seminal fluid were not significantly different from queens treated with seminal fluid, suggesting that components in seminal fluid, such as seminal fluid proteins, are largely responsible for stimulating post-mating changes in queens.
Project description:To examine the effect of seminal fluid on the whole genome expression profile of endometrial tissue following mating, RNA was extracted from endometrial tissue collected 8 h after CBAF1 females were mated with intact Balb/c males and compared to RNA from endometrial tissue of females mated with seminal fluid deficient SVX/VAS Balb/c males. This comparison controlled for ovarian hormone status, exposure to the male and mating activity, and the neuroendocrine response to cervical and vaginal stimulus at mating, so that changes in endometrial gene expression could be attributed specifically to contact with seminal fluid. The endometrial RNA from n=16 individual females was pooled into four independent biological replicates per treatment group (n=4 endometrial samples per replicate) and expression profiles were analyzed by Affymetrix microarray. Seminal fluid exposure induced a clear difference in the profile of genes expressed in the endometrium with a total of 335 genes were differentially regulated with a fold-change greater than 1.5 and p<0.05. Of these, 190 genes were upregulated and 145 genes were downregulated following contact with seminal fluid. Bioinformatics analysis revealed TLR4 signaling as a strongly predicted upstream regulator activated by the differentially expressed genes.Additional experiments confirmed the role of TLR4 with the absence of TLR4 in TLR4 null mice resulting in a failure for seminal fluid to induce endometrial Csf3, Cxcl2, Il6 and Tnf expression. This study provides evidence that TLR4 contributes to seminal fluid modulation of the periconception immune environment. Activation of TLR4 signaling by microbial or endogenous components of seminal fluid is thus implicated as a key element of the female tract response to seminal fluid at the outset of pregnancy in mice. Endometrial RNA collected 8 h following coitus from n=16 individual females was pooled into four independent biological replicates per treatment group (n=4 endometrial samples per replicate) and expression profiles were analyzed by Affymetrix microarray. Microarray analysis was performed using Affymetrix Mouse Gene 2.0 ST Arrays at the Adelaide Microarray Centre (Adelaide, Australia). Total RNA (300 ng) was labelled using the GeneChip® WT PLUS Reagent Kit according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). Microarray data was analyzed using Partek Genomics Suite version 6.6). Briefly, .cel files were imported using RMA background correction, following GC content correction and mean probe summarization. Differentially expressed probes were defined as ≥1.50-fold change, t-test p <0.05. To investigate gene pathways and upstream regulators activated by seminal fluid following mating, differentially expressed genes were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) version 18488943 Build 308606M (IPA, Ingenuity Systems, Redwood City, CA).
Project description:Seminal fluid factors modulate the female immune response at conception to facilitate embryo implantation and reproductive success. Whether sperm affect this response has not been clear. We evaluated global gene expression by microarray in the mouse uterus after mating with intact or vasectomized males. Intact males induced greater changes in gene transcription, prominently affecting pro-inflammatory cytokine and immune regulatory genes, with TLR4 signaling identified as a top-ranked upstream driver. Recruitment of neutrophils and expansion of peripheral regulatory T cells were elevated by seminal fluid of intact males. In vitro, epididymal sperm induced IL6, CXCL2, and CSF3 in uterine epithelial cells of wild-type, but not Tlr4 null females. Collectively these experiments show that sperm assist in promoting female immune tolerance by eliciting uterine cytokine expression through TLR4-dependent signaling. The findings indicate a biological role for sperm beyond oocyte fertilization, in modulating immune mechanisms involved in female control of reproductive investment. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression in mice following exposure to different components of seminal fluid
Project description:Queens of social insects make all mate-choice decisions on a single day, except in honeybees whose queens can conduct mating flights for several days even when already inseminated by a number of drones. Honeybees therefore appear to have a unique, evolutionarily derived form of sexual conflict: a queen’s decision to pursue risky additional mating flights is driven by later-life fitness gains from genetically more diverse worker-offspring but reduces paternity shares of the drones she already mated with. We used artificial insemination, RNA-sequencing and electroretinography to show that seminal fluid induces a decline in queen vision by perturbing the phototransduction pathway within 24-48 hours. Follow up field trials revealed that queens receiving seminal fluid flew two days earlier than sister queens inseminated with saline, and failed more often to return. These findings are consistent with seminal fluid components manipulating queen eyesight to reduce queen promiscuity across mating flights.
Project description:Seminal fluid plays an essential role in promoting male reproductive success and modulating female physiology and behaviour. In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, Sex Peptide (SP) is the best-characterised protein mediator of these effects. It is secreted from the paired male accessory glands (AGs), which, like the mammalian prostate and seminal vesicles, generate most of the seminal fluid contents. After mating, SP binds to spermatozoa and is retained in the female sperm storage organs. It is gradually released by proteolytic cleavage and induces several long-term post-mating responses including increased ovulation, elevated feeding and reduced receptivity to remating, primarily signalling through the SP receptor (SPR). We demonstrate a previously unsuspected SPR-independent function for SP. We show that, in the AG lumen, SP and secreted proteins with membrane-binding anchors are carried on abundant, large neutral lipid-containing microcarriers, also found in other SP-expressing Drosophila species. These microcarriers are transferred to females during mating, where they rapidly disassemble. Remarkably, SP is a key microcarrier assembly and disassembly factor. Its absence leads to major changes in the seminal proteome transferred to females upon mating. Males expressing non-functional SP mutant proteins that affect SP binding to and release from sperm in females also do not produce normal microcarriers, suggesting that this male-specific defect contributes to the resulting widespread abnormalities in ejaculate function. Our data reveal a novel role for SP in formation of seminal macromolecular assemblies, which may explain the presence of SP in Drosophila species that lack the signalling functions seen in D. melanogaster. In this experiment we assessed the effect of SP loss-of-function on the transferred seminal proteome.
Project description:Transcriptome of testes was examined for comparison of transcript abundance with that of sperm/seminal fluid (as sequenced in separate study)
Project description:Avian uterine fluid (UF) and uterovaginal sperm storage tubules (SST) are key components for acceptance of sperm in SST, sperm functions maintenance during weeks, sperm release out of SST, and their ascending through the uterus. The study of UF and SST is essential to better understand sperm storage process. The objectives were to identify proteins modulated in the hen’s oviduct by sperm, and to highlight their role during sperm storage. Two genetic lines of hens exhibiting long (F+) or short (F-) sperm storage ability were used. GeLC-MS/MS strategy was used to establish a quantitative inventory of proteins regulated after insemination in both lines. Consequently the identification of high (ANXA4/ANXA5/OCX32) and low (HSPA8/PIGR) fertility markers was investigated in uterovaginal junction by immunohistochemistry. Our results demonstrated that sperm induced a significant and rapid change in the UF proteomic content, as well as in the SST epithelium. In F+ hens, the ANXA4 protein mobilization in apical part of SST cells after insemination was associated to increased levels of some proteoglycans and binding proteins, as well as antimicrobial eggshell matrix protein (OCX32) in the UF. We also observed increased levels of lipid transporters involved in egg formation (VTG1-2, APOA1-4-H). In F- hens, insemination induced increased levels of PIGR in both UF and SST, of ANXA5 in SST, of UF enzymes exhibiting metallopeptidase activity, and mucins. In conclusion, sperm induced significant changes in the UF proteomic content. This study also provides evidence that the SST immune system is major to regulate sperm storage.