Knockdown of regulator of G-protein signalling 2 (Rgs2) leads to abnormal early mouse embryo development in vitro.

Regulator of G-protein signalling 2 (Rgs2) is involved in G-protein-mediated signalling by negatively regulating the activity of the G-protein α-subunit. In the present study, the expression patterns of Rgs2 in mouse ovarian tissues and early embryos were determined by semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescent analyses. Rgs2 expression was observed in the ovarian tissues of adult female mice, with an almost equal expression levels during different stages of the oestrous cycle.

Serine protease inhibitor 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenesulfonyl fluoride hydrochloride (AEBSF) inhibits the rat embryo implantation in vivo and interferes with cell adhesion in vitro.

Background: This study was conducted to observe the in vivo effect of 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenesulfonyl fluoride hydrochloride (AEBSF) on embryo implantation in rats and its in vitro effect on cell adhesion.

Study Design: The anti-implantation efficacy of AEBSF in rats was determined by counting the number of visible implanted embryos on day 8 of pregnancy following intrauterine (5 mg and 10 mg AEBSF per horn) or tail vein (10 mg AEBSF per rat) administration on day 3 of pregnancy. The effects of AEBSF on cell adhesion were detected, respectively, by using the mouse blastocysts-endometrial cells or the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)-HeLa cells co-culture model.

PTOV1 is associated with UCH-L1 and in response to estrogen stimuli during the mouse oocyte development.

To investigate the biological significance of ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1) involvement in oocyte maturation, we screened for proteins that bound to UCH-L1 in mouse ovaries, and we found that the prostate tumor overexpressed-1 (PTOV1) protein was able to bind to UCH-L1. PTOV1 is highly expressed in prostate cancers and considered as a potential marker for carcinogenesis and the progress of prostate cancer. It was reported that PTOV1 plays an important role in cell cycle regulation, but its role in mammalian oocyte development and meiosis is still unclear.