Utero-placental expression and functional implications of HSD11B1 and HSD11B2 in canine pregnancy

• Published in: Biology of Reproduction
• Main Authors: Tavares Pereira, Miguel, Schuler, Gerhard, Aslan, Selim, Payan-Carreira, Rita, Reichler, Iris, Reynaud, Karine, Kowalewski, Mariusz
• Other Authors: Universität Zürich Zürich = University of Zurich (UZH), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen = Justus Liebig University (JLU), Near East University, University of Évora Portugal, Physiologie de la reproduction et des comportements Nouzilly (PRC), Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Equitation Saumur (IFCE)-Université de Tours (UT)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort (ENVA), The present work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) research19 grant number 31003A_182481.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: Dog (Canis lupus familiaris); placenta; parturition; cortisol; hydroxysteroid; 11-beta dehydrogenase (HSD11B) 1/2; [SDV.BDLR]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Reproductive Biology; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04235811; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04235811/document; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04235811/file/Tavares%20Pereira%20et%20al%20Uterine%20HSD11B1_final_Text_Figures.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioac214

International audience The canine placenta appears to have increased trophoblast-mediated inactivation of cortisol during mid-pregnancy, whereas parturition appears to be marked by increased local cortisol availability. Glucocorticoids modulate the feto-maternal interface during the induction of parturition. In the dog, the prepartum rise of cortisol in the maternal circulation appears to be erratic, and information about its contribution to the prepartum luteolytic cascade is scarce. However, the local placental upregulation of glucocorticoid receptor (GR/NR3C1) at term led to the hypothesis that species-specific regulatory mechanisms might apply to the involvement of cortisol in canine parturition. Therefore, here, we assessed the canine uterine/utero-placental spatio-temporal expression of hydroxysteroid 11-beta dehydrogenase 1 (HSD11B1; reduces cortisone to cortisol), and -2 (HSD11B2; oxidizes cortisol to the inactive cortisone). Both enzymes were detectable throughout pregnancy. Their transcriptional levels were elevated following implantation, with a strong increase in HSD11B2 post-implantation (days 18-25 of pregnancy), and in HSD11B1 at mid-gestation (days 35-40) (P < 0.05). Interestingly, when compared pairwise, HSD11B2 transcripts were higher during post-implantation, whereas HSD11B1 dominated during mid-gestation and luteolysis (P < 0.05). A custom-made species-specific antibody generated against HSD11B2 confirmed its decreased expression at prepartum luteolysis. Moreover, in mid-pregnant dogs treated with aglepristone, HSD11B1 was significantly higher than -2 (P < 0.05). HSD11B2 (protein and transcript) was localized mostly in the syncytiotrophoblast, whereas HSD11B1 mRNA was mainly localized in cytotrophoblast cells. Finally, in a functional approach using placental microsomes, a reduced conversion capacity to deactivate cortisol into cortisone was observed during prepartum luteolysis, fitting well with the diminished HSD11B2 levels. In particular, the latter findings support the presence ...