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Cellular distribution and hormonal regulation of progestin receptor immunoreactivity in the rabbit oviduct
Abstract
Cellular distribution and hormonal regulation of progestin receptor immunoreactivity (PR-IR) in paraffin-embedded rabbit oviduct tissue was determined using a monoclonal antibody and the indirect immunoperoxidase method. Ampullar and isthmic tissue from ovariectomized animals primed with estradiol-17$\beta$ or vehicle alone was examined. In the absence of estradiol, PR-IR was rarely observed in the ampulla. Estradiol treatment increased PR-IR in cell nuclei of the stroma and muscularis of the ampulla but not of the epithelium. In contrast, PR-IR was seen in epithelial cell nuclei of the isthmus in the absence of estradiol. Surprisingly, while estradiol treatment increased PR-IR in cell nuclei of the stroma and muscularis of the isthmus, it decreased PR-IR in the epithelium. Progesterone treatment decreased estrogen-induced PR-IR in the stroma and muscularis of both the ampulla and the isthmus. Cellular distribution and intensity of PR immunostaining in the rabbit oviduct was also examined at 24, 48 and 72 hr post-coitum. Medium-dark PR immunostaining was present in cell nuclei of the stroma throughout the oviduct during the post-coital period, although a decrease in immunostaining was observed in the ampulla at 72 hr post-coitum. PR immunostaining was rarely observed in the ampullar muscle layer of estrous animals or following coitus. In contrast, PR immunostaining, which was fairly dark in the isthmic muscle of estrous animals, was completely absent in this cell layer post-coitum. No change in immunostaining was observed in the isthmic epithelial cells following coitus, while an increase in PR immunostaining was observed in cell nuclei of the ampullar epithelium at 72 hr post-coitum. These results suggest a differential regulation of progestin receptors in the ampulla and isthmus of the oviduct. In particular, while estradiol treatment increased PR-IR in the stroma and muscularis throughout the oviduct and was without effect on PR-IR in the epithelium of the ampulla, it decreased PR-IR in the epithelium of the isthmus. Progesterone treatment decreased estrogen-induced PR-IR in the stroma and muscularis throughout the oviduct, but had little effect on the epithelium. In contrast, while PR immunostaining decreased in the ampullar stroma and isthmic muscularis following coitus there was an increase in PR immunostaining in the ampullar epithelium at 72 hr post-coitum. This suggests that, while estradiol alone has no effect on PR-IR in the ampullar epithelium, this cell type is capable of progestin receptor synthesis under the hormonal conditions normally found during the latter portion of the post-coital period.
Subject Area
Immunology|Physiology
Recommended Citation
Hyde, Barbara Ann, "Cellular distribution and hormonal regulation of progestin receptor immunoreactivity in the rabbit oviduct" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9022697.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9022697