Uterine responses to early pre-attachment embryos in the domestic dog and comparisons with other domestic animal species ...

• Main Authors: Graubner, Felix R., Gram, Aykut, Kautz, Ewa, Bauersachs, Stefan, Aslan, Selim, Agaoglu, Ali R., Boos, Alois, Kowalewski, Mariusz P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2017
• Subjects: dog Canis lupus familiaris; embryo-maternal communication; early pregnancy; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000220083; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/220083

In the dog, there is no luteolysis in the absence of pregnancy. Thus, this species lacks any anti-luteolytic endocrine signal as found in other species that modulate uterine function during the critical period of pregnancy establishment. Nevertheless, in the dog an embryo-maternal communication must occur in order to prevent rejection of embryos. Based on this hypothesis, we performed microarray analysis of canine uterine samples collected during pre-attachment phase (days 10-12) and in corresponding non-pregnant controls, in order to elucidate the embryo attachment signal. An additional goal was to identify differences in uterine responses to pre-attachment embryos between dogs and other mammalian species exhibiting different reproductive patterns with regard to luteolysis, implantation, and preparation for placentation. Therefore, the canine microarray data were compared with gene sets from pigs, cattle, horses, and humans. We found 412 genes differentially regulated between the two experimental groups. ... : Biology of Reproduction, 97 (2) ...