Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Key Regulators and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Myometrial Activation during Equine Placentitis.

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Key Regulators and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Myometrial Activation during Equine Placentitis. Biol Reprod. 2020 Feb 17;: Authors: Ali HE, Boakari YL, Loux SC, Dini P, Scoggin KE, Esteller-Vico A, Kalbfleisch T, Ball BA Abstract The key event in placentitis-induced preterm labor is myometrial activation with the subsequent initiation of labor. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying myometrial activation are not fully understood in the mare. Therefore, the equine myometrial transcriptome was characterized during placentitis (290.0 ± 1.52 d GA, n = 5) and the prepartum period (330d GA, n = 3) in comparison to normal pregnant mares (289.8 ± 2.18 GA, n = 4). Transcriptome analysis identified 596 and 290 DEGs in the myometrium during placentitis and the prepartum period, respectively, with 138 DEGs in common. The placentitis DEGs included eight genes (MMP1, MMP8, S100A9, S100A8, PI3, APOBEC3Z1B, RETN and CXCL2) that are exclusively expressed in the inflamed myometrium. Pathway analysis elucidated that inflammatory signaling, toll-like receptor signaling, and apoptosis pathways dominate myometrial activation during placentitis. Prepartum myometrium was associated with overexpression of inflammatory signaling, oxidative stress, and 5-hydroxytryptamine degradation. Gene ontology enrichment analysis identified several chemoattractant factors in the myometrium during placentitis and pr...
Source: Biology of Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Authors: Tags: Biol Reprod Source Type: research