Expression of plasminogen activator genes and enzymatic activities in rat preimplantation embryos
Plasminogen activator has been implicated in tissue invasion and remodelling because of its role in the degradation of the extracellular matrix. Its activity can be detected in mouse embryos as early as day 6 of pregnancy, suggesting that plasminogen activator is involved in the process of implantat...
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Published in | Journal of reproduction & fertility Vol. 101; no. 1; pp. 235 - 240 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Society for Reproduction and Fertility
01.05.1994
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Plasminogen activator has been implicated in tissue invasion and remodelling because of its role in the degradation of the
extracellular matrix. Its activity can be detected in mouse embryos as early as day 6 of pregnancy, suggesting that plasminogen
activator is involved in the process of implantation. The present study determined the time course of expression of the genes
encoding tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) during the preimplantation
period in rats by the sensitive mRNA phenotyping procedure of reverse transcription–PCR. The tPA mRNA was present in rat oocytes
and two-cell embryos, but was not detected between the four-cell and blastocyst stages. The uPA mRNA was first detected in
two-cell rat embryos, and was present through to the blastocyst stage. In chromogenic assays, plasminogen activator activity
was detected in oocytes and embryos between two-cell and blastocyst stages. Most plasminogen activator activity present in
preimplantation embryos appeared to be uPA, as it could be inhibited by anti-uPA antibody and a specific uPA inhibitor, amiloride,
but not by anti-tPA antibody. The present data demonstrate the expression of uPA gene and uPA activity in preimplantation
rat embryos, suggesting that embryonic uPA may be involved in early embryo development and implantation. |
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ISSN: | 1470-1626 0022-4251 1741-7899 |
DOI: | 10.1530/jrf.0.1010235 |