earticle

영어

In pigs, expression and amounts of biologically active interferon tau (IFNT) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) at the conceptus-maternal interface increase significantly as conceptuses elongate and begin the implantation process. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) acts through EGF receptor (EGFR) present in the blastocyst seems to regulate embryonic production of IFNT. To understand the mechanisms regulating the interaction between the hatched blastocyst and maternal uterine environment, the production of IFNT and TGF-β were investigated. Hatched pig blastocysts (days 7～10) were cultured and exposed to EGF (0, 1, 10 and 100 ng/mL) for 24, 48 and 72 h. Protein concentrations of IFNT in the cultured media were determined by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Epidermal growth factor (10 and 100 ng/mL) increased embryonic production of IFNT and TGF-β production by hatched blastocysts. The above results suggest that epidermal growth factor produced by epithelial cell stimulates the production of IFNT by pig trophoblasts. The capacity of conceptus to increase IFNT and TGF-β production in response to EGF stimulation may be important for the establishment of pregnancy in pig.