趋化因子与哺乳动物生殖

趋化因子(chemokine)通过其G蛋白偶联的受体介导白细胞在各种组织内迁移。最近发现,白细胞介素—8(IL-8)、单核细胞趋化蛋白—1(MCP—1)、调节激活的正常T细胞表达和分泌的蛋白(RANTES)、调节生长的原癌基因α(GRO-α)、粒细胞趋化蛋白—2(GCP—2)等趋化因子在卵泡发育、闭锁、排卵、类固醇激素生成、黄体功能、月经周期、着床、子宫颈成熟、早产和子宫内膜异位症等生殖过程中具有重要的调节作用。     

哺乳动物卵巢生殖干细胞研究的现状与未来

哺乳动物卵巢中是否存在卵细胞再生(neo-oogenesis)及卵巢生殖干细胞一直是生殖生物学领域的争议热点之一。传统观点认为哺乳动物雌性个体出生后不再有新的卵细胞生成,即个体出生时生殖细胞已发育到原始卵泡(primordial follicle)阶段,停留在第一次减数分裂前期的双线期(diplotene),之后卵泡池中的配子或凋亡,或重新启动发育,没有生殖干细胞通过再生来产生新的卵子补充到卵泡库中。然而,近年的研究结果发现,小鼠和人卵巢中可以分离出一类生殖细胞,它们在体外培养条件下具有增殖和自我更新的能力,移植入卵巢后可以分化形成有功能的卵细胞,从而挑战了这一传统理念。但是,生理条件下卵巢中是否也存在这样一类生殖干细胞,其生理功能如何。该文就此方面的研究现状和未来发展进行评述。     

哺乳动物精子发生过程中的细胞凋亡及其影响因素

睾丸生殖细胞凋亡是维持精子发生动态平衡,限制生精上皮生殖细胞数量的一个重要生理机制,受多种因素调控。本简要叙述精子发生过程中细胞凋亡的激素调节、基因调控及其他理化等因素的影响及其作用机制。     

哺乳动物早期胚胎细胞的极性与分化

哺乳动物早期胚胎细胞具有极性,在桑椹胚以前细胞极性由不稳定变为稳定。细胞极性包括表面极性和细胞质极性。细胞极性与滋养层和内细胞团两种细胞系的建立密切相关。细胞的极化使细胞形成顶-基轴,细胞分裂后,顶半球产生的极性子细胞分化为滋养层,基半球产生的非极性子细胞建立了内细胞团。内细胞团偏向胚泡一侧,使胚胎形成了胚-对胚轴(EA轴)。细胞分化是许多因素的综合效应,不能简单地归结为决定子的单独作用。     

生殖激素与精子发生中细胞凋亡的调控

30多年来细胞死亡的概念逐渐发展并受到重视,它的深入研究使人们在细胞与分子水平上阐明生命现象的工作又前进了一大步。生命不仅需要细胞增殖,而且还需要细胞死亡。细胞增殖和细胞死亡之间的平衡是维持多细胞生物体内平衡的一种重要方式。国外60年代提出了程序性细胞死亡(Programmed cell death)的概念,70年代提出了细胞凋亡(apoptosis)的概念,虽然两种概念在最初的定义上有差别,但目前大多数学者都将它们等同起来看待。     

斯钙素与哺乳动物生殖的研究进展

斯钙素(stanniocalcin,STC)是一类首先在硬骨鱼类发现的糖蛋白激素,其生理作用在于调节钙磷稳态。近年来在入和哺乳动物组织中也发现存在有STC,并且以旁分泌方式参与机体的多种生理功能。本文综述了近年来哺乳动物胚胎发育、妊娠及哺乳期间STC基因在卵巢内的表达,早期胚胎植入过程中STC基因在子宫内膜的表达,以及人绒毛膜促性腺激素(hCG)对STC分泌的调节作用及其作用机制。研究表明,新生个体的STC基因表达首先出现在卵巢的膜细胞内,随后出现于卵巢基质的间质细胞和内膜细胞;但STC基因的表达产物STC却聚积于卵母细胞和黄体细胞内,提示STC参与卵母细胞的成熟过程。胚胎植入、妊娠、分娩与哺乳期间卵巢内STC基因表达量的动态变化行为,提示STC在哺乳动物生殖过程的各个环节均发挥一定的作用。     

PPARs信号通路与哺乳动物生殖

过氧化物酶体增殖因子活化受体(peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors,PPARs)在动物体内有着广泛的生物学作用,可调节脂类代谢、能量收支平衡以及细胞分裂分化等重要生理过程。已经发现,PPARs信号通路与糖尿病和癌症等许多重大疾病的发生有关。随着基因剔除技术的应用以及PPARs人工配体的开发利用,人们对PPARs的认识不断深入。现对PPARs通路在卵巢周期、黄体形成、胚胎着床、胎盘发育和雄性生殖等哺乳动物生殖系统中的表达、功能及作用机制进行综述。     

表皮生长因子与哺乳动物生殖的关系

表皮生长因子与哺乳动物生殖的关系岳占碰杨增明（东北农业大学生物工程系哈尔滨１５００３０）关键词表皮生长因子哺乳动物生殖表皮生长因子（ｅｐｉｄｅｒｍａｌｇｒｏｗｔｈｆａｃｔｏｒ,ＥＧＦ）是一种多肽类生长因子,该因子在人和动物各种组织器官生长发育过程中是...     

雌性哺乳动物生殖干细胞：在争议中前进

100多年以来,雌性哺乳动物出生后是否存在生殖干细胞的争议尚无定论．2004年,研究人员从出生后的小鼠卵巢中发现并分离到雌性生殖干细胞(female germline stem cells,FGSCs),挑战了存在近半个世纪的理论：哺乳动物出生后不会对卵母细胞库进行更新．随后很多研究不仅指出哺乳动物出生后卵巢中新生成的卵母细胞源自FGSCs,而且发现如果将FGSCs移植回受体卵巢,它们能够产生功能性的卵母细胞并由此得到健康的后代．可是,有的研究小组重复实验或者精心设计实验,却未得到相同的结果,甚至得出相反的结果．最近,有研究者从育龄女性卵巢中分离到了在体内外都能够分化出功能性卵母细胞的FGSCs,不过这些卵母细胞的受精能力还有待证实．本文回顾了哺乳动物FGSCs的研究历程,并对这一存在已久的争论以及FGSCs研究方向和将来的运用前景展开了评述．     

催产素及其受体与哺乳动物的生殖

催产素（OT）是一种9肽激素,主要由哺乳动物下丘脑产生,以神经内分泌,旁分泌或自分泌形成,在哺乳动物生殖过程中发挥重要作用,催产素受体（OTR）是与G－蛋白相耦联的膜蛋白,通过激活磷脂酶C发挥其生理作用,OT在交配,分娩,哺池时由神经垂体（垂体后叶）脉冲式释放,促进子宫平滑肌和乳腺肌上皮细胞收缩,利用精子运行,胎儿娩出和射出乳汁,OT在中枢神经系统中参与调节母性行为,在性腺中促进某些物种的黄体形成,OT与PGF2a共同作用使有蹄动物黄体退化,以上过程都依赖于OT和OTR基因的时空特异性表达,多种激素参与它们的表达调控,但OT的生理作用有时也可被其它途径所替代。     

Genomic imprinting and mammalian reproduction

Among animals, genomic imprinting is a uniquely mammalian phenomenon in which certain genes are monoallelically expressed according to their parent of origin. This silencing of certain alleles often involves differential methylation at regulatory regions associated with imprinted genes and must be recapitulated at every generation with the erasure and reapplication of these epigenetic marks in the germline. Imprinted genes encode regulatory proteins that play key roles in fetal growth and development, but they also exert wider effects on mammalian reproduction. Genetic knockout experiments have shown that certain paternally expressed imprinted genes regulate post-natal behavior in offspring as well as reproductive behaviors in males and females. These deficits involve changes in hypothalamic function affecting multiple areas and different neurochemical pathways. Paternally expressed genes are highly expressed in the hypothalamus which regulates growth, metabolism and reproduction and so are well placed to influence all aspects of reproduction from adults to the resultant offspring. Coadaptation between offspring and mother appears to have played an important role in the evolution of some paternally expressed genes, but the influence of these genes on male reproductive behavior also suggests that they have evolved to regulate their own transmission to successive generations via the male germline.     

Skeletal adaptations during mammalian reproduction

Remarkable changes occur in the mammalian skeleton prior to, during and after the reproductive cycle. Skeletal changes occur with ovarian maturation and initiation of menses and estrus in adolescence, which may result in a greater accumulation of skeletal mineral in the female vs the male skeleton. There is also some evidence to suggest an excess skeletal mass in young female experimental animals. In early pregnancy, growth, modeling and perhaps suppressed remodeling promote the accumulation of calcium. Some changes may also occur with the transition from pituitary to placental control of the pregnancy. In later pregnancy, an increase in bone turnover appears to coincide with fetal skeletal mineralization. Rapid and important changes occur in the skeleton and mineral metabolism in the transition from pregnancy to lactation as the mammary gland rather than the uterus draws on the maternal calcium stores. Lactational demands are met at least partially by a temporary demineralization of the skeleton, which is associated with increased bone modeling and remodeling. Endochondral growth almost ceases during lactation, but envelope-specific bone modeling and remodeling are greatly increased. This is generally associated with a loss of skeletal mass and density, more apparent at sites with less of a mechanical role (e.g. central metaphysis regions and the endocortical envelope). The post-lactational period is profoundly anabolic with substantial increases in bone formation, but blunted resorption at almost all skeletal envelopes. Skeletal mass is increased during this period and it is associated with improved skeletal mechanical properties. There are several important observations. 1) The nulliparous animal appears to have an excess skeletal mass to perhaps compensate for maternal metabolic inefficiency of the first reproductive cycle. 2) Changes in growth, modeling and remodeling occur at different times and at different skeletal envelopes during the reproductive cycle. These site-specific, temporal changes appear to be adaptations that facilitate the use of skeletal mineral while preserving mechanical competence. 3) After the first reproductive cycle, modeling and remodeling optimize the existing skeletal mass into a structure that better accommodates the prevailing mechanical environment. 4) The post-lactational period is profoundly anabolic and may provide new strategies for preservation of skeletal mass when reproductive capacity ceases.     

前列腺素及其受体与哺乳动物的生殖

前列腺素（ＰＧ）是一类二十碳脂肪酸的衍生物,作为细胞间信号分子广泛分布于各种组织。ＰＧ受体按结合特异性和不同的生理、药理作用可分为ＥＰ－ＦＰ等型,ＥＰ受体又可分为四种亚型。它们者是与Ｇ蛋白偶联的跨膜蛋白。ＰＧ及其受体在哺乳动物生殖过程中发挥着着急而复杂的调节作用。卵泡产生的ＰＧ是排卵所必需的;ＰＧＦ２α参与黄体退化;各种ＰＧＥ受体胚胎着床过程中特异性表达;ＰＧ在分娩过程中也是必不可少的。     

Chemosignals,hormones and mammalian reproduction

Many mammalian species use chemosignals to coordinate reproduction by altering the physiology and behavior of both sexes. Chemosignals prime reproductive physiology so that individuals become sexually mature and active at times when mating is most probable and suppress it when it is not. Once in reproductive condition, odors produced and deposited by both males and females are used to find and select individuals for mating. The production, dissemination and appropriate responses to these cues are modulated heavily by organizational and activational effects of gonadal sex steroids and thereby intrinsically link chemical communication to the broader reproductive context. Many compounds have been identified as “pheromones” but very few have met the expectations of that term: a unitary, species-typical substance that is both necessary and sufficient for an experience-independent behavioral or physiological response. In contrast, most responses to chemosignals are dependent or heavily modulated by experience, either in adulthood or during development. Mechanistically, chemosignals are perceived by both main and accessory (vomeronasal) olfactory systems with the importance of each system tied strongly to the nature of the stimulus rather than to the response. In the central nervous system, the vast majority of responses to chemosignals are mediated by cortical and medial amygdala connections with hypothalamic and other forebrain structures. Despite the importance of chemosignals in mammals, many details of chemical communication differ even among closely related species and defy clear categorization. Although generating much research and public interest, strong evidence for the existence of a robust chemical communication among humans is lacking.     

The physiology of bicarbonate transporters in mammalian reproduction

HCO(3)(-) plays critically important roles during virtually the entire process of reproduction in mammals, including spermatogenesis, sperm capacitation, fertilization, and development of early stage embryos. Therefore, the acid-base balance in the male and female reproductive tracts must be finely modulated. The fluid milieu in the epididymis is acidic, containing very low concentration of HCO(3)(-). In this acidic low HCO(3)(-) environment, mature sperm are rendered quiescent in the epididymis. In contrast, the luminal fluid in the female uterus and oviduct is alkaline, with very high concentration of HCO(3)(-) that is essential for sperm to fulfill fertilization. HCO(3)(-) transporter of solute carrier 4 (SLC4) and SLC26 families represent the major carriers for HCO(3)(-) transport across the plasma membrane. These transporters play critical roles in intracellular pH regulation and transepithelial HCO(3)(-) transport. The physiological roles of these transporters in mammalian reproduction are of fundamental interest to investigators. Here we review recent progress in understanding the expression of HCO(3)(-) transporters in reproductive tract tissues as well as the physiological roles of these transporters in mammalian reproduction.     

Effects of heat stress on mammalian reproduction

Heat stress can have large effects on most aspects of reproductive function in mammals. These include disruptions in spermatogenesis and oocyte development, oocyte maturation, early embryonic development, foetal and placental growth and lactation. These deleterious effects of heat stress are the result of either the hyperthermia associated with heat stress or the physiological adjustments made by the heat-stressed animal to regulate body temperature. Many effects of elevated temperature on gametes and the early embryo involve increased production of reactive oxygen species. Genetic adaptation to heat stress is possible both with respect to regulation of body temperature and cellular resistance to elevated temperature.