Differential expression of the full-length and truncated forms of the epidermal growth factor receptor in the preimplantation mouse uterus and blastocyst. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The present investigation examined the differential expression of the full-length (fl) and the truncated (tr) forms of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) in the preimplantation mouse uterus and blastocyst. Northern blot hybridization using a complementary RNA probe specific to the full-length form (EGFr-fl) detected a 6.5-kb transcript, whereas that of the truncated form (EGFr-tr) detected a 2.7-kb transcript in the preimplantation mouse uterus on days 1 and 4 of pregnancy (day 1 = vaginal plug). In situ hybridization using these probes detected the EGFr-fl transcripts only in the stroma and myometrium, but not in the epithelium, whereas EGFr-tr transcripts were detected in all major uterine cell-types. To confirm the results of in situ hybridization, RT-PCR was performed on RNA isolated from separated uterine cell-types on day 4 of pregnancy using sequence specific primers for the two forms of the receptor. The results concur that the EGFr-tr transcript is expressed in the epithelium, stroma and myometrium, whereas that of the EGFr-fl transcript is not expressed in the epithelium. In the preimplantation blastocyst, RT-PCR detected the EGFr-fl messenger RNA, but not the EGFr-tr messenger RNA. These results suggest that the blastocyst, not the uterine epithelium, is the target for EGF family of growth factors in embryo-uterine interaction during implantation.

published proceedings

  • Endocrinology

author list (cited authors)

  • Tong, B. J., Das, S. K., Threadgill, D., Magnuson, T., & Dey, S. K.

citation count

  • 42

complete list of authors

  • Tong, BJ||Das, SK||Threadgill, D||Magnuson, T||Dey, SK

publication date

  • April 1996