Expression data from bovine conceptus during peri-implantation period

Conceptus implantation to the uterine endometrium is required for pregnancy establishment, during which non-invasive trophoblasts attach and adhere to the uterine endometrium or invasive trophoblasts invade into the uterine stroma, followed by placental formation in most mammalian species. During peri-implantation period, conceptuses must communicate with the uterine endometrium if they are to survive and proceed to attachment to the uterine epithelium. Despite numerous studies performed on the bovine species, molecular mechanisms associated with their attachment processes, particularly the initial attachment to the endometrial epithelium, have not been well characterized. In the bovine species, attachment of conceptus to the uterine endometrium is initiated on day 19.0~19.5 (day 0 = estrus cycle).To study gene expression associated with implanation event in bovine conceptuses, microarray analysis was initially conducted in RNAs isolated from days 20 (start to attchment) and 22 trophoblast (tight attachment) tissues.