93 DEVELOPMENT OF BOVINE PRE-IMPLANTATION EMBRYOS IS ALTERED BY ADDITION OF ACTIVIN AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE GROWTH FACTOR FROM DAYS 5 TO 7 AFTER FERTILIZATION

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
J. Kannampuzha-Francis ◽  
P. J. Hansen

The reproductive tract secretes bioactive molecules collectively known as embryokines that can regulate embryonic growth and development. Here we tested actions of two molecules that are highly expressed in the endometrium for actions to modify development of bovine embryos. The molecules tested were activin and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), and endpoints were percentage of fertilized oocytes becoming blastocysts and number of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells in Day 7 blastocysts. Bovine embryos produced in vitro from slaughterhouse ovaries were cultured in a serum-free culture medium. On Day 5 of culture, culture drops were supplemented with vehicle (control), human recombinant activin or CTGF (10–11, 10–10, or 10–9 M). On Day 7, blastocysts (n = 202) were collected and labelled with a nuclear dye (Hoescht 33342) and a TE cell marker (anti-CDX2). Statistical analysis was performed using the GLM procedure of SAS. Results are shown as least squares means ± s.e.M. The percentage of putative zygotes becoming a blastocyst on Day 7 was 28.4 ± 1.5% for control embryos; 32.2 ± 1.5%, 30.7 ± 1.5%, and 33.1 ± 1.5% for embryos cultured with 10–11, 10–10, and 10–9 M activin, respectively; and 27.8 ± 1.5%, 25.1 ± 1.5%, and 28.4 ± 1.5% for embryos cultured with 10–11, 10–10, and 10–9 M CTGF, respectively. Activin increased the proportion of putative zygotes becoming a blastocyst when added at 10–9 M (P = 0.0321) and tended to have the same effect at 10–11 M (P = 0.0898). There was no effect of any concentration of CTGF on development of putative zygotes to blastocyst on Day 7. There was no effect of treatment on total cell number or number of TE or of activin on ICM cell number or TE : ICM ratio. However, CTGF increased (P = 0.0011) the number of ICM (40.1 ± 1.5, 46.2 ± 1.4, 46.5 ± 1.4, and 56.3 ± 1.4 for control and 10–11, 10–10, and 10–9 M CTGF, respectively). CTGF also reduced (P = 0.0319) the TE : ICM ratio. Values were 2.8 ± 0.2 for control and 2.1 ± 0.2, 1.9 ± 0.2, and 1.6 ± 0.2 for 10–11, 10–10, and 10–9 M CTGF, respectively. Results indicate that activin and CTGF can affect embryo development. In particular, activin increases competence of embryos to develop to the blastocyst stage and CTGF affects blastocyst differentiation. Support was provided by NIH R03 HD080855.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. e0133689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio A. Mendes ◽  
Juliana M. Coelho Aguiar ◽  
Suzana A. Kahn ◽  
Alice H. Reis ◽  
Luiz Gustavo Dubois ◽  
...  

2002 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nowinski ◽  
Patrik Höijer ◽  
Thomas Engstrand ◽  
Bengt Gerdin ◽  
Mikael Ivarsson ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 286 (27) ◽  
pp. 24242-24252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Vial ◽  
Jaime Gutiérrez ◽  
Cristian Santander ◽  
Daniel Cabrera ◽  
Enrique Brandan

Fibrotic disorders are the end point of many chronic diseases in different tissues, where an accumulation of the extracellular matrix occurs, mainly because of the action of the connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2). Little is known about how this growth factor activity is regulated. We found that decorin null myoblasts are more sensitive to CTGF than wild type myoblasts, as evaluated by the accumulation of fibronectin or collagen III. Decorin added exogenously negatively regulated CTGF pro-fibrotic activity and the induction of actin stress fibers. Using co-immunoprecipitation and in vitro interaction assays, decorin and CTGF were shown to interact in a saturable manner with a Kd of 4.4 nm. This interaction requires the core protein of decorin. Experiments using the deletion mutant decorin indicated that the leucine-rich repeats (LRR) 10–12 are important for the interaction with CTGF and the negative regulation of the cytokine activity, moreover, a peptide derived from the LRR12 was able to inhibit CTGF-decorin complex formation and CTGF activity. Finally, we showed that CTGF specifically induced the synthesis of decorin, suggesting a mechanism of autoregulation. These results suggest that decorin interacts with CTGF and regulates its biological activity.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 2593-2593
Author(s):  
Hongbo Lu ◽  
Venkata Lokesh Battula ◽  
Yuexi Shi ◽  
Richard B Lock ◽  
Suzanne Spong ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2593 Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) is a member of the CCN family of proteins involved in extracellular matrix production, tumor cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, and metastasis. Recent studies have shown that CTGF expression is elevated in 75% of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Br J Haematol, 2007; 138(6):740–8), and that increased expression of CTGF is associated with inferior outcome in B-ALL (Blood, 2007; 109(7):3080–3). In this study, we characterized the functional role and downstream signaling pathways of CTGF in ALL cells. First, we utilized lentiviral shRNA to knock-down CTGF in RS4;11 and REH ALL cells expressing high levels of CTGF mRNA (479.3±37.2 and 57.3±5.9 copies per 100 copies of ABL1, respectively). Silencing of CTGF (CTGF-knockdown, CTGF-kd) resulted in significant suppression of leukemia cell growth (57% in RS4;11 and by 70% in REH) compared to control vector. CTGF knockdown moderately reduced adhesion of RS4;11 to fibronectin (27%±0.1%). In the in vitro culture system, CTGF knockdown significantly enhanced growth inhibition and apoptosis induction after 48 hour exposure to chemotherapy agents (annexinV(+): Vincristine 25.8±3.5%, Vincristine/CTGF-kd 42.6±2.8%; Dexamethasone 66.3±1.8%, Dexamethasone/CTGF-kd 99.3±0.6%; Methotrexate, 17.4±0.6%, Methotrexate/CTGF-kd 39.5±3.9). Analysis of signaling pathways showed that CTGF down-regulation inhibits Src phosphorylation at Tyr416. Remarkably, phosphorylation of AKT at Ser473, and of mTOR downstream targets S6 Ribosomal Protein and 4E-BP1 were significantly inhibited in CTGF-knockdown RS4;11 cells, concomitantly with upregulation of expression of AKT targets Bim and p27. No changes in the levels of apoptotic regulators cIAP1 and Bcl-xL were found. This data suggest that CTGF regulates growth and chemosensitivity of ALL cells through Src and AKT/mTOR signaling. We previously reported that an anti-CTGF monoclonal antibody significantly extended median survival of mice implanted with xenografts derived from a primary CTGF expressing ALL sample in NOD/SCID mice. We are now investigating the effects of combining anti-CTGF treatment with cytotoxic chemotherapy in this model. Blocking CTGF signaling may represent a useful adjunct to cytotoxic therapies in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Disclosures: Spong: Fibrogen: Employment, Equity Ownership.


2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Lojkic ◽  
Iva Getz ◽  
Marko Samardžija ◽  
Mario Matkovic ◽  
Goran Bacic ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the addition of cysteamine to the in vitro culture media enhances the yield, hatching rate, total cell number and inner cell mass/total cell number ratio of bovine embryos. A total of 933 bovine oocytes collected from ovaries of 60 slaughtered donors were subjected to in vitro maturation and in vitro fertilization. Following fertilization, embryos were cultured in synthetic oviductal fluid without glucose. After 24 h embryos were transferred into synthetic oviductal fluid with 1.5 mM glucose and 0 (control), 50, 100 and 200 µM of cysteamine. After 48 h, the embryos were transferred into synthetic oviductal fluid with glucose but without cysteamine and cultured until Day 9. The number of cleaved embryos on Day 2, the total number of blastocysts on Day 7 and the number of hatched blastocysts on Day 9 were calculated. Differential staining of inner cell mass and trophectoderm cells of blastocysts were performed on Day 7 and Day 9 of in vitro culture. Supplementation of in vitro culture media with 100 µM cysteamine increased the blastocyst yield (P < 0.05) without affecting the hatching rate. Furthermore, the embryos cultured in the presence of 100 µM cysteamine had significantly higher number of inner cell mass cells (P < 0.05) and the proportion of inner cell mass cells (P < 0.05) compared with the controls. The results of the present study demonstrated that the addition of 100 µM cysteamine to the in vitro culture media improved blastocyst production rate and enhance embryo quality, which could lead to the improvement of the in vitro culture system for bovine embryos.


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