Cross-species transcriptomic approach reveals genes in hamster implantation sites

Successful management of a patient with ovarian ectopic pregnancy by the end of the first trimester: a case report

BACKGROUND

Among all ectopic pregnancies, between 0.5% and 3.5% are ovarian ectopic pregnancies, a potentially life-threatening condition when ruptured due to its serious potential for hemorrhaging. A majority of ovarian ectopic pregnancies are diagnosed by the 7th week of pregnancy when the patient becomes symptomatic, and ultrasound can be used to diagnose this condition.

CASE PRESENTATION

We present the case of a 39-year-old Persian woman in the 12th week of gestation who presented with vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain and was diagnosed with ovarian ectopic pregnancy. Her notable laboratory finding was β-human chorionic gonadotropin > 15,000, which indicates definite pregnancy. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) revealed no evidence of intrauterine pregnancy, but a well-circumscribed gestational sac in the left ovary. The patient was successfully treated with resection of the gestational sac and partial left salpingo-oophorectomy. Histopathological studies confirmed the diagnosis of ovarian ectopic pregnancy.

CONCLUSION

The case emphasizes the ability of ovarian ectopic pregnancy to develop asymptomatically through the course of pregnancy and points to the necessity for high-quality prenatal care and the importance of determining the fetal site during pregnancy.

Genome Divergence and Dynamics in the Thin-Tailed Desert Sheep From Sudan

With climate change bound to affect food and feed production, emphasis will shift to resilient and adapted indigenous livestock to sustain animal production. However, indigenous livestock comprise several varieties, strains and ecotypes whose genomes are poorly characterized. Here, we investigated genomic variation in an African thin-tailed Desert Sheep sampled in Sudan, using 600K genotype data generated from 92 individuals representing five ecotypes. We included data from 18 fat-tailed and 45 thin-tailed sheep from China, to investigate shared ancestry and perform comparative genomic analysis. We observed a clear genomic differentiation between the African thin-tailed Desert Sheep and the Chinese thin-tailed and fat-tailed sheep, suggesting a broad genetic structure between the fat-tailed and thin-tailed sheep in general, and that at least two autosomal gene pools comprise the genome profile of the thin-tailed sheep. Further analysis detected two distinct genetic clusters in both the African thin-tailed Desert Sheep and the Chinese thin-tailed sheep, suggesting a fine-scale and complex genome architecture in thin-tailed sheep. Selection signature analysis suggested differences in adaptation, production, reproduction and morphology likely underly the fine-scale genetic structure in the African thin-tailed Desert Sheep. This may need to be considered in designing breeding programs and genome-wide association studies.

The Interplay between Glucose-Regulated Protein 78 (GRP78) and Steroids in the Reproductive System

The glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) is a molecular chaperone that is responsible for protein folding, which belongs to the heat shock protein 70 kDa (HSPA/HSP70). Because of the conjunction of GRP78 transcription with endoplasmic reticulum stress, the chaperone plays an important role in the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is induced after the accumulation of misfolded proteins. In the last years, a significant body of research concentrated on interplay between GRP78 and sexual steroid hormones. Throughout this review, we describe the mechanisms by which GRP78 regulates steroidogenesis at multiple levels and how steroids modulate GRP78 expression in different mammalian reproductive organs. Finally, we discuss the cooperation between GRP78 and steroids for cell survival and proliferation in the context of reproduction and tumorigenesis. This new paradigm offers significant opportunities for future exploration.

Gene profiling the window of implantation: Microarray analyses from human and rodent models

Poor uterine receptivity leads to implantation defects or failure. Identification of uterine molecules crucial to uterine receptivity and/or embryo implantation provides the opportunity to design a diagnostic screening toolkit for uterine receptivity or targeted drug discovery for treating implantation-based infertility. In this regard, gene-profiling studies performed in humans and rodents have identified numerous genes involved in the transcriptional regulation of uterine receptivity and embryo implantation. In this article, we compared available uterine microarray datasets collected during the time of uterine receptivity and implantation in humans, mice and hamsters to uncover conserved gene sets. We also compared the transcriptome signature of women with unexplained infertility (UIF) and recurrent implantation failure (RIF) to gain insight into genes potentially dysregulated during endometrial receptivity or embryo implantation. Among numerous differentially expressed genes, few were revealed that might have molecular diagnostic screening potential for identifying the uterine receptive state during the time of implantation. Finally, functional annotation of gene sets uncovered altered uterine apoptosis or cell adhesion pathways in women with UIF and RIF, respectively. These conserved or divergent gene sets provide insights into the uterine receptive state for supporting blastocyst implantation.