CYP26A1-specific antagonist influence on embryonic implantation, gene expression and endogenous retinoid concentration in rats

authored by

Britta Fritzsche, Jan Philipp Schuchardt, Anja Schmidt, Heinz Nau, Florian J Schweigert, Ralph Rühl

Abstract

Retinoids are essential in vertebrate reproduction and embryonic development. All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) is tightly regulated during these processes. CYP26A1 is mainly responsible for its degradation. To study the role of CYP26A1 during implantation, we applied R115866, a CYP26A1-specific antagonist, to rats during early gestation days (GD). On GD 6.5 and 12 samples were collected and the number of embryos was evaluated. ATRA concentration increased in uterus and serum, mRNA expression of CYP26A1 and CRABP2 increased in the liver, but not in the uterus. Uterine COX1 and 17βHSD mRNA expression was decreased. The number of embryos on GD 12 was not altered in this setting. It can be concluded that uterine expression of the analyzed retinoid-response genes during early gestation is not altered by this R115866 treatment and instead indirectly via ATRA. From our experiment we cannot confirm that ATRA obtains a major influencing role in the regulation of embryonic implantation.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Nutrition Physiology and Human Nutrition Section

External Organisation(s)

University of Potsdam
Bayer Pharma AG
University of Veterinary Medicine of Hannover, Foundation
University of Debrecen
Forschungsgruppe Apoptose und Genomik der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Debrecen

Type

Article

Journal

Reproductive Toxicology

Volume

30

Pages

446-451

No. of pages

6

ISSN

0890-6238

Publication date

11.2010

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reprotox.2010.05.005 (Access: Unknown)