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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #375692
Research Project: Biophotonics - The Application of Novel Imaging Methodologies to Livestock Production Research

Location: Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit

Title: Comparative analysis of porcine follicular fluid proteomes of small and large ovarian follicles

Author
item RYAN, PETER - Mississippi State University
item WILLARD, SCOTT - Mississippi State University
item FEUGANG, JEAN - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/6/2020
Publication Date: 5/17/2020
Citation: Ryan, P., Willard, S., Feugang, J. 2020. Comparative analysis of porcine follicular fluid proteomes of small and large ovarian follicles. Biology. 9(5):101.

Interpretive Summary: During follicle development, in addition to somatic cells proliferation and oocyte growth, there is the appearance of an antrum cavity. This essential cavity is filled with a follicular fluid (FF) rich in blood plasma molecules and secretions of follicle cells, constituting an important microenvironment for normal folliculogenesis and oocyte development. Ovarian follicular fluid is widely used for in vitro oocyte maturation, but its in-depth characterization to extract full beneficial effects remains unclear. Numerous studies have investigated the FF composition to find key molecules that could support oocyte maturation. In the present study, we identified few proteins with potential roles during sperm–oocyte interactions were especially detected in FF of large follicles and supporting the potential role of the ovarian FF on the intrafallopian sperm migration and interaction with the oocyte.

Technical Abstract: Here, we performed both shotgun (nanoscale liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry or nanoLC-MS/MS) and gel-based (two dimension-differential in-gel electrophoresis or 2D-DIGE) proteomics, followed by functional bioinformatics to compare the proteomes of follicular fluids collected from small (<4 mm) and large (>6–12 mm) follicles of pig ovaries. A total of 2321 unique spots were detected with the 2D-DIGE across small and large follicles, while 2876 proteins with 88% successful annotations were detected with the shotgun approach. The shotgun and 2D-DIGE approaches revealed about 426 and 300 proteins that were respectively common across samples. Six proteins detected with both technical approaches were significantly differently expressed between small and large follicles. Pathways such as estrogen and PI3K-Akt signaling were significantly enriched in small follicles while the complement and coagulation cascades pathways were significantly represented in large follicles. Up-regulated proteins in small follicles were in favor of oocyte maturation, while those in large follicles were involved in the ovulatory process preparation.