Placental development during early pregnancy in sheep: Estrogen and progesterone receptor mRNA expression in pregnancies derived from in vivo and in vitro produced embryos

Sex steroids are important regulators of angiogenesis and growth in reproductive tissues, including the placenta. In Exp. 1, to examine expression of a suite of sex steroid receptors throughout early pregnancy, maternal (caruncular, CAR) and fetal (fetal membranes, FM) placental tissues were collected on days 14-30 after mating and on day 10 after estrus (nonpregnant [NP] controls). In Exp. 2, to examine the hypothesis that assisted reproductive technology (ART) would affect the expression of the same suite of sex steroid receptors, pregnancies were achieved through natural mating (NAT), or transfer of embryos from natural mating (NAT-ET), in vitro fertilization (IVF) or in vitro activation (IVA), and CAR and FM were collected on day 22.

Source: Domestic Animal Endocrinology - June 4, 2015 Category: Endocrinology Authors: L.P. Reynolds, J.S. Haring, M.L. Johnson, R.L. Ashley, D.A. Redmer, P.P. Borowicz, A.T. Grazul-Bilska Source Type: research