Abstract
The accumulation of 3H-progesterone and 3H-estradiol-17ß in five day-old pig embryos was studied in vitro. After 6 hrs. of incubation, the uptake of 3H-progesterone was 132 ± 18 cpm (x ± SEM) and apparently was nonspecific since no significant inhibition could be determined in the presence of a 100-fold excess of unlabelled progesterone or estradiol-17ß. After 6 hrs. of incubation, the uptake of H-estradiol-17ß was 134 ± 25 cpm, but apparently was specific since a significant (p < 0.01) competitive inhibition (67.7%) could be determined in the presence of a 100-fold excess of unlabelled estradiol-17ß. Apparent specific binding was calculated to be 0.87 fmoles estradiol-176 per 10 blastocysts or 72.5 fmoles estradiol-17ß per mg protein. After 2 hrs. of incubation,a significant (p < 0.001) competitive inhibition (58.4%) of 3H-estradiol-17ß uptake was present, but not after 20 min. of culture. The uptake of H-estradiol-17ß was significantly (p <0.001) lower (52 – 5 cpm) in degenerate embryos and unfertilized ova from day 5 than by viable blastocysts from the same day. In addition, competitive inhibition was lacking. The results suggest the presence of specific binding sites for estradiol-17ß in the early pig embryo which are still unidentified. In-vitro development of pig morulae was inhibited by adding the anti- estrogen Nafoxidine to the culture medium. The inhibition could be overcome by adding estradiol-17ß to the medium. Estradiol-17ß appears to have a distinct physiological function for an undisturbed development of the early pig embryo, a suggestion which is going to be substantiated in subsequent experiments.
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© 1986 ECSC, EEC, EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg
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Niemann, H., Elsaesser, F. (1986). Accumulation of Sex Steroids in Preimplantation Pig Blastocysts and Their Importance for an Undisturbed Early Embryonic Development. In: Sreenan, J.M., Diskin, M.G. (eds) Embryonic Mortality in Farm Animals. Current Topics in Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, vol 34. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5038-2_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5038-2_7
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