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HEREDITAS(Beijing) ›› 2014, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (12): 1243-1248.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1005.2014.1243

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Tissue expression of EphB2 and RNA-seq analysis during embryo im-plantation in Meishan pigs

Yanfeng Fu1, Yanhong Zhou1, 2, Aiguo Wang3, Lan Li4, 5, Honglin Liu2, Bixia Li1, Shouwen Ren1   

  1. 1. The Key Laboratory of Animal Breed Improvement and Reproduction, Institute of Animal Science, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China;
    2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China3. College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China;
    4. College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China;
    5. National Research Center of Veterinary Biologicals Engineering and Technology, Nanjing 210014, China
  • Received:2014-03-22 Online:2014-12-20 Published:2014-12-20

Abstract: Embryo implantation is a key step affecting swine litter size, which is an important economic and reproduction trait in pigs. In order to investigate the effect of erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular receptor B2 (EphB2) on endometrium migration and attachment during swine embryo implantation, the mRNA and protein expression levels of EphB2 in endometrium implantation sites, endometrium non-implantation sites and ovary were detected in Meishan sows during pre-implantation, mid-implantation and post-implantation period using real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot. Differential expression genes were also analyzed in endometrium implantation sites and ovary during different implantation periods by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology. The qRT-PCR and Western blot results showed that EphB2 mRNA and protein expression curve was the same in endomtrium implantation sites and endometrium non-implantation sites during pre-implantation, mid-implantation and post-implantation period, with a first increase followed by a decrease, and its expression level during mid-implantation was significantly higher than pre-implantation and post-implantation (P<0.01). In contrast, EphB2 mRNA and protein expression curve in ovary during pre-implantation, mid-implantation and post-implantation period showed a first decrease followed by an increase, and the expression levels were significantly different among different implantation periods (P<0.05). RNA-seq results indicated that EphB2 mRNA expression during mid-implantation was higher than that of pre-implantation extremely significantly in endometrium implantation sites (P<0.01), and was significantly higher than that of post-implantation in ovary (P<0.05). By and large, EphB2 might play an important role in swine embryo implantation, and it’s a potential candidate gene for litter size in pigs.

Key words: EphB2, embryo implantation, expression, RNA-seq, Meishan pig