Interaction of preimplantation factor with the global bovine endometrial transcriptome. Bos taurus

Preimplantation factor (PIF) is an embryo derived peptide which exerts an immune modulatory effect on human endometrium, promoting immune tolerance to the embryo whilst maintaining the immune response to invading pathogens. While bovine embryos secrete PIF, the effect on the bovine endometrium is unknown. Maternal recognition of pregnancy is driven by an embryo-maternal cross talk however, the process differs between humans and cattle. As many embryos are lost during the early part of pregnancy in cattle, a greater knowledge of factors affecting the embryo-maternal crosstalk, such as PIF, is needed to improve fertility. Therefore, this study aimed to demonstrate the effect of synthetic PIF (sPIF) on the bovine transcriptome in an ex vivo bovine endometrial tissue culture model.