Ovary Hormonal Control
of Ley Oligosaccharide Expression during Peri-implantation of Mouse
Endometrium
WANG Han, GE Chang-Hui, KONG Ying, XIN Yin, ZHU Zheng-Mei*
( Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Glycobiology, Dalian Medical
University, Dalian 116027, China )
Abstract It has been
reported that oligosaccharide Ley plays an essential role at the initial
stage of implantation. It may act as a mediator molecule for recognition and
adhesion between the surface of blastocysts and epithelial cells. Alpha 1,2
fucosyltransferase (FUT1) and α1,3 fucosyltransferase (FUT4) are responsible
for the synthesis of its α1,2 and α1,3 fucose, respectively. In this article,
the transcription of FUT1 and FUT4 genes was investigated by
semi-quantitative RT-PCR and the expression of Ley oligosaccharide
was analysized by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry with the endometrium
of early pregnancymice and of the mice treated by ovary hormones after
ovariectomy, in order to investigate the regulation of ovary hormones on the Ley
oligosaccharide antigen expression. The results showed that the transcription
level of FUT1 and FUT4 genes decreased during early pregnancy
through days 1–5, which was in agreement with the increasing level of
progesterone. In the ovariectomized group, the transcription level of the genes
decreased significantly after progesterone treatment and increased after
estrogen treatment, and was at the intermediate level in the group treated with
both hormones. The biosynthesis of Ley oligosaccharide paralleled
with the transcription of FUT1 and FUT4 gene. These results
suggest that the expression of Ley oligosaccharide in the
endometrial epithelium of mice is regulated at the level of transcription of FUT1
and FUT4 genes. It is suppressed by progesterone and stimulated by
estrogen, and the effects of both hormones are in antagonism.
Key words Ley；fucosyltransferase； endometrium； hormone control； peri-implantation
*Corresponding author： Tel, 86-411-4720616； e-mail, [email protected]