Maternal metabolic stress may affect oviduct gatekeeper function

We hypothesized that elevated non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) modify in vitro bovine oviduct epithelial cell (BOEC) metabolism and barrier function. Hereto, BOECs were studied in a polarized system with 24-h treatments at Day 9: (1) control (0 µM NEFA + 0% EtOH), (2) solvent control (0 µM NEFA + 0.45% EtOH), (3) basal NEFA (720 µM NEFA + 0.45% EtOH in the basal compartment) and (4) apical NEFA (720 µM NEFA + 0.45% EtOH in the apical compartment). FITC-albumin was used for monolayer permeability assessment and related to transepithelial electric resistance (TER). Fatty acid (FA), glucose, lactate and pyruvate concentrations were measured in spent medium. Intracellular lipid droplets (LD) and FA uptake were studied using Bodipy 493/503 and immunolabelling of FA transporters (FAT/CD36, FABP3 and CAV1). BOEC-mRNA was retrieved for qRT-PCR. Results revealed that apical NEFA reduced relative TER increase (46.85%) during treatment and increased FITC–albumin flux (27.59%) compared to other treatments. In basal NEFA, FAs were transferred to the apical compartment as free FAs: mostly palmitic and oleic acid increased respectively 56.0 and 33.5% of initial FA concentrations. Apical NEFA allowed no FA transfer, but induced LD accumulation and upregulated FA transporter expression (CD36, FABP3 and CAV1). Gene expression in apical NEFA indicated increased anti-apoptotic (BCL2) and anti-oxidative (SOD1) capacity, upregulated lipid metabolism (CPT1, ACSL1 and ...

Source: Reproduction - April 20, 2017 Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Jordaens, L., Van Hoeck, V., Maillo, V., Gutierrez-Adan, A., Marei, W. F. A., Vlaeminck, B., Thys, S., Sturmey, R. G., Bols, P. E. J., Leroy, J. L. M. R. Tags: Research Source Type: research