Expression of functional melatonin MT1 receptors in equine luteal cells: in vitro effects of melatonin on progesterone secretion
Marcos Pedreros A , Marcelo Ratto B and Montserrat Guerra C D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad San Sebastián, General Cruz N° 1577, Concepción, Chile.
B Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria, Universidad Austral de Chile, 5678 Valdivia, Chile.
C Instituto de Anatomía, Histología y Patología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Austral de Chile, 5678 Valdivia, Chile.
D Corresponding author. Email: monserratguerra@uach.cl
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 23(3) 417-423 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD10137
Submitted: 11 June 2010 Accepted: 9 September 2010 Published: 3 February 2011
Abstract
In the present study, we analysed the molecular mechanism(s) by which melatonin directly affects ovarian function in the mare. In Experiment 1, follicles and corpora lutea (CL) were collected from slaughterhouse ovaries and analysed for melatonin (MT1) receptor mRNA and protein. In Experiment 2, CL were collected from slaughterhouse ovaries and cultured in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium-F12 medium (control medium) supplemented with 50 ng mL–1 equine chorionic gonadotrophin (eCG), 1 nM–1 μM melatonin, 1 μM forskolin or 1 μM luzindole. Explants were cultured for 3 h in the presence of these drugs. Conditioned media were analysed for progesterone production; luteal cells were analysed for cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), a steroidogenic enzyme that converts cholesterol into pregnenolone. Both MT1 receptor mRNA and protein were expressed in follicles and CL. Melatonin inhibited both the eCG- and forskolin-stimulated production of progesterone, as well as the forskolin-stimulated expression of P450scc, in equine luteal cells and the effect was dose-dependent. The inhibitory effect of melatonin was blocked by luzindole, a non-selective melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptor antagonist. The data support the presence of functional melatonin receptors in luteal cells and a regulatory role for melatonin in the endocrine function of the equine CL.
Additional keyword: steroidogenesis.
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