earticle

영어

DPP-4 (Dipeptidyl peptidase IV/CD26) is a 110 kDa cell surface glycoprotein that belongs to the serine protease family and is expressed on a variety of tissues, including T lymphocytes, endothelial cells, and epithelial cells. It is composed of a short cytoplasmic domain, a transmembrane region, and an extracellular domain with dipeptidyl peptidase IV activity. The present study aimed to investigate the localization of DPP-4 in porcine ovary and parthenogenetic embryos. DPP-4 was detected not only in immatured and matured COCs but also until blastocysts stage by immunocytochemical analysis. Especially, the cumulus cells were higher expressed than that of the oocytes. We attempted DPP-4 downregulation of porcine embryos by siRNA, and evaluated DPP-4 suppression of developmental competencies. Although the porcine embryos injected with DPP-4 siRNA were able to develop to the early stage, these embryos were decreased to form blastocysts. Our results indicated that DPP-4 is an important factor for the regulation of development of porcine embryos.