The neurotrophins, required for the survival and differentiation of the nervous system, are known to be important for the development of the reproductive tissues. However, the signals initiating the growth of follicles, gamete development, and transport and the development of zygote in the reproductive system of cows remain ambiguous. The purpose of the present study was to identify the transcr...

IGF binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) proteolytic degradation is a common feature of preovulatory follicles from human, ovine, bovine, porcine, and equine ovary. In all these species, the protease is a zinc-dependent metalloprotease and its ability to degrade IGFBP-4 is IGF dependent. The human intrafollicular IGFBP-4-degrading protease has recently been identified as pregnancy-associated plasma prot...

Ingestion of vertebrate blood is essential for egg maturation and transmission of disease-causing parasites by female mosquitoes. Prior studies with the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, indicated blood feeding stimulates egg production by triggering the release of hormones from medial neurosecretory cells in the mosquito brain. The ability of bovine insulin to stimulate a similar response ...

In an attempt to assess histophysiological implication of the follicular compartment of the bovine ovary in steroid hormone formation and the effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in vitro on follicular steroidogenesis, minces of follicular tissues from non-gravid bovine ovaries were incubated with radioactive testosterone or acetate in the presence and absence of hCG. Significant amount...

In this study we have shown that Viable AC-2, a medium based on the ultrafiltrate fraction of bovine colostrum and adult bovine serum, can be used successfully as a fetal bovine serum (FBS) substitute in the culture of several anchorage-dependent and independent cell lines. Of the 15 cell lines cultured in 8% Viable AC-2 in microplates, 10 reached the maximum cell density of 65%-123% of that in...

Cell death occurs by apoptosis during programmed deletion of cells and following exposure to cytotoxic agents. Central to the mechanism of apoptosis is internucleosomal DNA digestion by an endogenous endonuclease which is thought to mediate cell death. An axiom of apoptosis is that the endonuclease involved is a Ca2+/Mg(2+)-dependent endonuclease. During purification of endonucleases from Chine...

Although the number of genes known to be associated with bovine spermatogenesis has increased in the past few years, regulation of this biological process remains poorly understood. Therefore, discovery of new male fertility genetic markers is of great value for assisted selection in commercially important cattle breeds, e.g., Nelore, that have delayed reproductive maturation and low fertility ...

The developmental expression of adrenocortical steroid hydroxylases was studied in bovine fetuses from 40 to 280 days gestational age. The expression of P45017, is first detected at a gestational age of 50 days and reaches a maximum at 60-70 days. The expression of P-45017, then declines and is nondetectable at a gestational age of 100 days. P-45017, is not expressed again until about 240 days,...

The oocyte is a key regulator of ovarian folliculogenesis and early embryonic development. However, the composition of the oocyte transcriptome and identities and functions of key oocyte-specific genes involved in the above processes are relatively unknown. Using a PCR-based cDNA amplification method (SMART technology), we constructed a bovine oocyte cDNA library. Analysis of 230 expressed sequ...

Recent studies implicate that apelin and its receptor APJ may have important role for the modulation of angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to further characterise the regulation of apelin/APJ system in bovine ovary. Experiment 1: corpora lutea (CL) were assigned to the following stages: days 1-2, 3-4, 5-7, 8-12, 13-16, >18 (after regression) of oestrous cycle and of gravidity (month <3, 3-...