Comparison between caruncles and intercaruncles in AI, IVF-ET and SCNT pregnancies

Implantation is crucial for placental development whose quality will directly impact fetal growth and pregnancy success with possible consequences on post-natal health. We postulated that early perturbations of the conceptus-maternal environment communication may alter the endometrium physiology that could account for the final reproductive outcome. Using cattle as an animal model, we compared gene expression profiles of the endometrial caruncular and intercaruncular areas at implantation in three types of pregnancies, namely artificial insemination (AI), in vitro fertilization with embryo transfer (IVF-ET) or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Less than 35% of the differentially regulated genes were found to be common between AI, IVF-ET, and SCNT conditions. Compared to AI, numerous biological functions and several canonical pathways and genes were found to be significantly affected in IVF-ET or SCNT, with a major impact on metabolism and immune function in SCNT. Our data show that endometrium can fine-tune its physiology and could be considered as a biological sensor in response to pregnancy manipulations. Determining the limits of the endometrial plasticity should bring new insights on the contribution of the maternal compartment to the issue of pregnancy. Keywords: Fluorescence Microarray 30 samples

着床过程对胎盘发育至关重要，而胎盘发育质量将直接影响胎儿生长与妊娠结局，甚至可能对产后健康产生远期影响。本研究提出假说：胚胎与母体环境间的早期交流扰动，可能改变子宫内膜生理状态，进而影响最终生殖结局。本研究以牛为动物模型，对比了三种妊娠模式下着床期子宫内膜肉阜区与肉阜间区的基因表达谱，这三种妊娠模式分别为人工授精（Artificial Insemination, AI）、体外受精-胚胎移植（In Vitro Fertilization with Embryo Transfer, IVF-ET）以及体细胞核移植（Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, SCNT）。研究发现，在AI、IVF-ET与SCNT三组样本中，仅有不足35%的差异表达基因存在共通性。与AI组相比，IVF-ET组与SCNT组的大量生物学功能、多条经典通路及基因均出现显著异常；其中SCNT组对代谢与免疫功能的影响尤为显著。本研究数据表明，子宫内膜可对自身生理状态进行精细调控，可被视为响应妊娠相关操作的生物学感受器。明确子宫内膜可塑性的边界，将有助于深入解析母体微环境对妊娠结局的调控作用。关键词：荧光微阵列（Fluorescence Microarray）、30份样本