Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)

Editor

Personal info

View

About

Terms

Javascript disabled

Please enable Javascript support in your browser to use this application.

Instructions on how to enable JavaScript on different browsers can be found here: http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=23852.

[edit this page]

Bazer, F.W. et al.

Interferon tau: a novel pregnancy recognition signal.

PROBLEM: Trophectoderm of ruminant conceptuses (embryo and associated membranes) secretes tau interferons (IFNtau) as the pregnancy recognition signal. How does it act? METHOD: Review of current data. RESULTS: IFNtau acts on uterine epithelium to suppress transcription of the genes for estrogen receptor and oxytocin receptor. This blocks development of the uterine luteolytic mechanism and, therefore, release of luteolytic pulses of prostaglandin F2alpha, but it has no effect on expression of the progesterone receptor. Maintenance of progesterone secretion by the corpus luteum ensures establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Secretion of IFNtau on days 12-15 for sheep and days 14-17 for cows and goats is essential for pregnancy recognition. CONCLUSION: We propose that IFNtau affects endometrial gene expression by activating the Jak/Stat pathway, which results in formation of the ISGF3alpha transcription factor complex. ISGF3alpha binds to interferon-stimulated response elements and activates transcription of interferon-responsive genes such as interferon regulatory factor-1 ( IRF-1) which, in turn, activates expression of the negative-acting transcription factor IRF-2. Pregnancy (or intrauterine injection of roIFNtau) results in a transient increase in endometrial IRF-1 expression followed 36-48 hr later by a sustained increase in IRF-2. We propose that IRF-2, or an IFNtau- induced negative regulatory factor like IRF-2, suppresses expression of the estrogen receptor gene and directly or indirectly blocks expression of the gene for oxytocin receptor to abrogate the uterine luteolytic mechanism and ensure the establishment of pregnancy.[1]

References

Interferon tau: a novel pregnancy recognition signal. Bazer, F.W., Spencer, T.E., Ott, T.L. Am. J. Reprod. Immunol. (1997) [Pubmed]

Annotations and hyperlinks in this abstract are from individual authors of WikiGenes or automatically generated by the WikiGenes Data Mining Engine. The abstract is from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.About WikiGenes Open Access Licence Privacy Policy Terms of Use apsburg

The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.