PARENT SESSION
FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT - A

Tuesday, August 3, 2004
10:30 AM–12:30 PM
Buchanan Courtyard

(428) DISTRIBUTION OF ESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE RECEPTOR PROTEINS IN UTERINE TISSUES OBTAINED DURING THE CAPRINE ESTROUS CYCLE AND EARLY PREGNANCY.

Lewis, Shaye¹, Leake, Jamila¹, Woldesenbet, Selamawit¹, Newton, Gary¹, ¹ Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX

ABSTRACT- Progesterone is required for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in ruminants. The H-type 1 carbohydrate antigen (HT1) is strongly expressed on the apical surface of luminal (L) and glandular (G) epithelial (E) cells during the peri-implantation period. HT1 is under the control of progesterone and may represent a stage-specific recognition molecule involved in the earliest stages of conceptus – endometrial interactions. However, progesterone receptors (PR) are absent from LE cells during pregnancy recognition in other ruminants. Therefore our objective was to characterize the temporal and spatial distribution of PR and estrogen receptors (ER) in caprine endometrium. Reproductive tracts were collected upon standing estrus (D0; n=2) or on Day (D) 5, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 of estrous cycle (Cy) or pregnancy (Preg) and Day 25Preg (n=5 goats/day). PR and ER proteins were localized using immunohistochemistry and expression patterns within LE, GE, and stromal (S) cells were determined. PR were most abundant in LE, GE, and S cells on D0, D5Cy and D5Preg. Expression in LE cells was weak on D11Cy and D11Preg and absent in LE cells for the duration of Cy and Preg. GE cells maintained moderate PR expression until D11Cy and D11Preg when expression decreased. PR localization was weak in S cells from D11Cy – D19Cy and from D11P – D15Preg. Beginning on D17Preg moderate staining for PR was detected in S cells. Staining intensified and was strong in the sub-epithelial S on D25Preg. At estrus, ER was abundant in LE and GE cells. In tissues from D5Cy and D5Preg animals, ER protein was absent from LE cells but increased on D11 – 13 in both Cy and P tissues when moderate LE staining was observed. LE staining then declined and was absent by D19 of Cy or Preg. Expression in GE cells was variable and dependent upon location within the stromal compartment. On D5 –15 of the Cy or Preg, GE staining for ER was strong only deep within the stromal compartment while expression of ER by GE cells within in the sub-epithelial stroma was moderate to weak. After D15Cy or D15Preg, GE staining was weak or absent. ER expression in Cy and Preg animals was present at all times in S cells. Staining was strongest prior to Day 15 of the Cy or Preg and then moderated. Therefore PR and ER vary temporally and spatially in the caprine endometrium during the Cy and early Preg. (USDA 00-38814-9506)

KEY WORDS: steroid, goat, endometrium, receptor