ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2019, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (9): 1802-1812.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2019.09.007

• ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND REPRODUCTION • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Expression of p38MAPK in the Main Reproductive Organs of Female Yaks (Bos grunniens)

HAN Xiaohong, HE Honghong, WANG Jinglei, ZHANG Huizhu, MA Yue, MA Jinbiao, ZHAO Shengxian, YU Sijiu, CUI Yan, FAN Jiangfeng*   

  1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
  • Received:2018-11-14 Online:2019-09-23 Published:2019-09-23

Abstract: The aim of this study was to explore the expression of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) protein and gene in the main reproductive organs of female yaks, accumulate some fundamental data for comprehending the role of p38MAPK in yak reproductive activity. The samples of main reproductive organs of adult healthy female yak during follicular phase, luteal phase and gestation period(2 each) were collected. Immunohistochemical method was used to locate the expression site of p38MAPK protein in the main reproductive organs of female yaks. The relative expression levels of the p38MAPK gene and protein were detected by qRT-PCR and Western-blot technique, respectively. The results showed that:1) The results of immunohistochemistry showed that p38MAPK protein was positively expressed in ovary, oviduct and uterus in female yak. 2) qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of p38MAPK gene in the ovary was significantly higher during follicular phase than that during gestation period(P<0.05). The expression of p38MAPK gene in oviduct was significantly higher during the luteal phase than that during the follicular phase and gestation period (P<0.05). The expression of p38MAPK gene in the uterus was significantly higher during gestation period than that during follicular phase and luteal phase (P<0.01). 3) The results of Western-blot showed that the expression of p38MAPK protein in the ovary during the follicular phase was significantly higher than that during the luteal phase and gestation period (P<0.01). The expression level of p38MAPK protein in the oviduct during the luteal phase was significantly higher than that during the follicular phase and gestation period (P<0.01). The expression of p38MAPK protein in the uterus during gestation period was significantly higher than that during follicular phase and luteal phase (P<0.01). In conclusion, these results suggest that p38MAPK may be involved in the regulation of reproductive processes that includes follicular development, luteal function and embryo implantation and embryo development. These data provide basic information for researching the reproductive mechanism of female yak.

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