Reproductive disorders in cows cause economic loss in livestock farms. Reproductive diseases, such as follicular cyst, luteal cyst, endometritis, pyometra, and repeat breeding cause infertility. Among these diseases, endometritis and pyometra are uterine infections that are leading causes of infertility. This study was performed to investigate the causative agents of uterine diseases using bacterial culture. Bacteria were obtained from the reproductive organs (vagina, uterine cervix, and uterine horn) of dairy cow diagnosed with endometritis or pyometra, and cultured on blood agar. The colonies obtained from cultivation for 24 hours were passaged. To identify the bacteria, the colonies grown in passaged culture Gram stained and applied to an automatic biochemical microbial identification system. Escherichia coli were commonly detected in vagina, uterine cervix, and uterine horn of dairy cows diagnosed to pyometra. The cows having endometritis showed not only Escherichia coli but also Pantoea spp. and Klebsiella spp. strains. Dairy cows that were infected with Escherichia coli in uterus caused mastitis or digestive disease. These results suggest that sanitary feeding and management beforehand are needed to prevent bacterial infections.

Plasminogen activators (PAs) are serine proteases that convert plasminogen to plasmin. Two type of PAs are urokinase-type PA (uPA) and tissue-type PA (tPA). Plasminogen is present in most extracellular fluids. PAs play in various reproductive processes including implantation, ovulation and fertilization. In the spermatozoa, PAs and PAIs play a role in sperm motility and fertilization. PAs in the sertoli cell are stimulated spermatozoa maturation and sperm activation through the phospholipase A2. The oocyte maturation is the process for fertilization and implantation. PAs in cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) are related to oocyte maturation by protein kinase A and C. In the ovulatory process, PAs activity are changed and it are related to reducing the tensile strength of ovarian follicle wall. The uterine environment is important for reproduction and the uterus undergo tissue remodeling. In the uterus and oviduct of mammals, expression and activity of PAs are changed during estrous cycle. Thus, expression and activity of PAs are concerned to many reproductive functions. Therefore, PAs seem to important factor of regulator in reproductive events.

We analyzed the fatty acid and dimethyl acetal (DMA) compositions of phospholipid (PL) classes [phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)] obtained from the reproductive organs of male (testis, vas deferens, seminal vesicle and spermatophoric sac) and female (ovary, oviduct, oviducal gland and nidamental gland) common squid. The PL contents in the male and female reproductive organs were 0.45-1.94 and 1.25-5.88 g/100 g tissues, respectively. The prominent PL classes in the male and female reproductive organs were PC (39.1-54.5% and 59.8-77.0%, respectively) and PE (30.6-40.6% and 18.7-31.8%, respectively). The prominent fatty acids of PC and PE in the reproductive organs were docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3), 16:0, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n-3), 20:1n-9, 18:0 and/or 20:4n-6. The percentage of DHA was higher in PC of male and female reproductive organs, while that of EPA was higher in the PE of both reproductive organs. The PE of male and female reproductive organs contained 18:0, 16:0, 16:1 and 20:0 DMAs, which derived from plasmalogen, especially 18:0 DMA was the richest (5.26% of total fatty acids and DMA) in the PE of the testis in all the organs tested. Consequently, these results suggest that the reproductive organs of male and female of the squid could be used as good sources for PC, PE, n-3 PUFA and plasmalogen.

A member of mice interferon inducible transmembrane protein like family, IFITM1, is reported to play an important role in primordial germ cell (PGC) formation and this protein reported for anti‐proliferation. This study conducted to investigate the mIFITM1 expression in reproductive organs of male mice. mIFITM1 expression in testis and epididymis were revealed by immunostaining and immuno blot. Moreover, we showed that mIFITM1 is related to development of mouse testis. mIFITM1 protein expression as markedly upregulated around 5‐ 15day after birth in testis, but postnatal 21 56 day detected pattern was decreasing by immunoblot. In the other reproductive organ, epididymis, we observed that mIFITM1 protein was strongly expressed in caput, corpus and cauda. We analyzed IFITM1 gene expression under conditions of androgen manipulation. Total RNAs were obtained from the epididymis of adult mice that castrated and injected. Testosterone replacement for animals 7day after surgery. In castrated animals, A clear decrease was found in the IFITM1 protein level on Interestingly, castrated mice was revealed that mIFITM1 expression is strong. At that time, the injected catration mice decrease in IFITM1 gene expression. We also found same result from the immunoblot analysis. Our data suggest that the function of the IFITM1 expression in sperm is remain unclear but mIFITM1 expression will be important to postnatal development of mice testis and spermatogenesis. Also, mIFITM1 regulated not only sexual maturation by gene expression in the reproductive organs but also by hormone.

Two-pore domain 칼륨() 통로는 흥분세포 및 비흥분세포의 안정막 전압을 일정하게 유지하는데 관여한다. 그러나 생식세포 및 생식기관에서 발현되는 통로의 분포영역 및 그 기능에 대해서는 연구자들에 의해 아직 정리되지 못하였다. 본 종설에서는 통로의 생식세포 및 생식기관에서 발현, 분포 및 생리학적 의의를 논하였다. 통로는 인간 영양막세포, 자궁근층, 태반혈관계, 자궁평활근조직, 태반융모조직 및 임신자궁조직에서 발현되어 임신에 있어서 관련성을 제

To understand molecular and cellular mechanisms of many gene products in the female reproductive organs including the ovary and uterine endometrium as well as during embryo development, researchers have developed and utilized many effective methodologies to analyze gene expression in cells, tissues and animals over the last several decades. For example, blotting techniques have helped to understand molecular functions at DNA, RNA and protein levels, and the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method has been widely used in gene expression analysis. However, some conventional methods are not sufficient to understand regulation and function of genes expressed in very complex patterns in many organs. Thus, it is required to adopt more high-throughput and reliable techniques. Here, we describe several techniques used widely recently to analyze gene expression, including annealing control based-PCR, differential display-PCR, expressed sequence tag, suppression subtractive hybridization and microarray techniques. Use of these techniques will help to analyze expression pattern of many genes from small scale to large scale and to compare expression patterns of genes in one sample to another. In this review, we described principles of these methodologies and summarized examples of comparative analysis of gene expression in female reproductive organs with help of those methodologies.

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is widely used as sweetener, and its overconsumption is become a major health problem. In the present study, we used adult female rats and applied a 28 days HFCS feeding model to monitor the estrous cycle and changes in tissue weights and histology. Adult female rats were divided into three groups. Animals were fed with ad libitum normal chow and (1) 24 hours tap water (Control group), (2) 12 hours HFCS access during dark period and 12 hours tap water (12H group), and (3) 24 hours HFCS only access (24H group). Total exposure period was 28 days. There is no significant change in body weight between control and HFCS-fed animals. Both absolute and relative weights of ovary in 24H animals were significantly heavier than those in control or 12H animals. The absolute and relative weights of the kidney and liver in 24H groups were significantly heavier than those in control or 12H animals. The estrous cycles of the 24H animals were significantly longer. Histological analyses revealed that 24H ovaries were relatively bigger and possessed more corpus lutea than control ovaries. Uterine sections of 12H and 24H animals showed a well-developed stratum vasculare between inner and outer myometrial layers. The number of endometrial glands were decreased in 12H uteri, and recovered in 24H uteri compared to control. Numbers of convoluted tubule in distal region increased in 12H and 24H kidney samples. Liver specimens of 12H and 24H showed the increased number of fat containing vacuoles. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that HFCS treatment for 28 days could induce (1) changes in length of estrous cycle with extended estrous and diestrous stages, (2) altered ovarian and uterine histology, and (3) liver and renal lipid accumulation. These findings reveal the adverse effects of HFCS drinking on the reproductive function and lipid metabolism of female rats.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an endotoxin, elicits strong immune responses in mammals. Several lines of evidence demonstrate that LPS challenge profoundly affects female reproductive function. For example, LPS exposure affects steroidogenesis and folliculogenesis, resulting in delayed puberty onset. The present study was conducted to clarify the mechanism underlying the adverse effect of LPS on the delayed puberty in female rats. LPS was daily injected for 5 days (50 μg/kg, PND 25-29) to treated animals and the date at VO was evaluated through daily visual examination. At PND 39, animals were sacrificed, and the tissues were immediately removed and weighed. Among the reproductive organs, the weights of the ovaries and oviduct from LPS-treated animals were significantly lower than those of control animals. There were no changes in the weights of uterus and vagina between the LPS-treated and their control animals. Immunological challenge by LPS delayed VO. Multiple corpora lutea were found in the control ovaries, indicating ovulations were occurred. However, none of corpus luteum was present in the LPS-treated ovary. The transcription level of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), CYP11A1, CYP17A1 and CYP19 were significantly increased by LPS treatment. On the other hand, the levels of 3β- HSD, 17β-HSD and LH receptor were not changed by LPS challenge. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that the repeated LPS exposure during the prepubertal period could induce multiple alterations in the steroidogenic machinery in ovary, and in turn, delayed puberty onset. The prepubertal LPS challenge model used in our study is useful to understand the reciprocal regulation of immune (stress) - reproductive function in early life.

In mammals, puberty is a process of acquiring reproductive competence, triggering by activation of hypothalamic kisspeptin (KiSS)-gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neuronal circuit. During peripubertal period, not only the external genitalia but the internal reproductive organs have to be matured in response to the hormonal signals from hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (H-P-G) axis. In the present study, we evaluated the maturation of male rat accessory sex organs during the peripubertal period using tissue weight measurement, histological analysis and RT-PCR assay. Male rats were sacrificed at 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, and 70 postnatal days (PND). The rat accessory sex organs exhibited differential growth patterns compared to those of non-reproductive organs. The growth rate of the accessory sex organs were much higher than the those of non-reproductive organs. Also, the growth spurts occurred differentially even among the accessory sex organs; the order of prepubertal organ growth spurts is testis = epididymis > seminal vesicle = prostate. Histological study revealed that the presence of sperms in seminiferous tubules and epididymal ducts at day 50, indicating the puberty onset. The number of duct and the volume of duct in epididymis and prostate were inversely correlated during the experimental period. Our RT-PCR revealed that the levels of hypothalamic GnRH transcript were increased significantly on PND 40, suggesting the activation of hypothalamic GnRH pulse-generator before puberty onset. Studies on the peripubertal male accessory sex organs will provide useful references on the growth regulation mechanism which is differentially regulated during the period in androgen-sensitive organs. The detailed references will render easier development of endocrine disruption assay.

Rice is an important model species and one of the most staple crops of the world. The use of rice appropriate promoters suitable for a specific target transgene is important for the control of spatial and temporal transgene expression. To isolate rice tissue-specific promoters, we exploited the potential of whole genome microarrays in 17 stages: callus, germinating seed, leaf, root, the size of the panicles before heading (1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, and 22 cm), and the number of days after pollination (1, 3, 5, 11, 21 DAP) using a 300 K Rice Genome Microarray, covering 31,439 genes of the rice. Eight candidate genes for tissue-specific expression were selected in various organs and stage of reproductive development in rice: Histone H4 for constitutive expression, Dehydrin DHN1 for callus-specific expression, germinating seed-specific hypothetical protein, root-specific hypothetical protein, DNA topoisomerase and Retinoblastoma for expression at panicles before heading, heading-specific profiling, and invertase for expression at seed after pollination. Promoter regions of the selected genes were isolated and fused to the β-glucoronidase (GUS) reporter gene, and the constructs were introduced into rice plants. These promoters are highly active in the tissue-specific manner of rice and can be useful for the spatial and temporal enhancement of target gene(s).

Manganese () is a trace element that is essential for normal physiology, and is predominantly obtained from food. Several lines of evidence, however, demonstrated that overexposure to exerts serious neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity and developmental toxicity, particularly in male. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of 0, 1.0, 3.3, and 10 mg/kg/day doses of on the reproductive organs in the immature female rats. Rats (PND 22; S.D. strain) were exposed to () dissolved in drinking water for 2 weeks. The animals were sacrificed on PND 35, then the tissues were immediately removed and weighed. Histological studies were performed using the uteri tissue samples. Serum LH and FSH levels were measured with the specific ELISA kits. Body weights of the experimental group animals were not significantly different from those of control group animals. However, ovarian tissue weights in 1 mg and 3.3 mg dose groups were significantly lower than those of control animals (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). Uterine tissue weights of 3.3 mg dose groups were significantly lower than those of control animals (p<0.01), while the 1 mg dose and 10 mg dose failed to induce any change in uterine weight. Similarly, only 3.3 mg dose could induce the significant decrease in the oviduct weight compared to the control group (p<0.05). Non-reproductive tissues such as adrenal and kidney failed to respond to all doses of exposure. The uterine histology revealed that the exposure could affect the myometrial cell proliferation particularly in 3.3 mg dose and 10mg dose group. Serum FSH levels were significantly decreased in 1mg dose and 10 mg groups (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). In contrast, treatment with 1 mg dose induced a significant increment of serum LH level (p<0.05). The present study demonstrated that exposure is capable of inducing abnormal development of reproductive tissues, at least to some extent, and altered gonadotropin secretions in immature female rats. Combined with the well-defined actions of this metal on GnRH and prolactin secretion, one can suggest the might be a potential environmental mediator which is involved in the female pubertal process.

국내자생 쑥속의 식물을 약용작물 및 산업화에 활용하기 위한 기초자료를 얻고자 본 연구를 수행하였다. 그 결과, 수집된 쑥속 식물들은 사철쑥 (A. capillaris)을 포함한 20종 1아종 2변종 24분류군으로 분류 되었으며, 이를 바탕으로 25개의 화기형질을 이용하여 주성분 분석과 군집분석을 수행하였다. 주성분 분석결과 제1주성분은 전체 분산의 44.73%, 제2주성분은 16.86%, 제 3주성분은 8.88%, 제4주성분은 7.07%의 기여율을 보였으며, 상위 제4주성분까지의 누적 기여율이 77.56%였다. 군집분석 결과, 자방의 퇴화, 아관목, 두화의 크기 등의 주요형질에 의해 크게 3개의 군으로 구분되어졌으며, 화기구조의 식별형질로는 기발표된 Dracunculus, Abrotanum, Absinthium 3절과 완전히 일치하지는 않았으나 국내 자생쑥의 분류형질로 활용이 가능하였다.