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Reproduction, Fertility and Development Reproduction, Fertility and Development Society
Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

RGMb expression in goat uterine tissues: possible role of RGMb in the proliferation and apoptosis of endometrial epithelial cells

Yang Xue https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0459-4593 A , Xiaomeng Pei A , Yuting Xia A , Hengguang Chen A , Hao Yu A , Wei Wang A and Dagan Mao https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2934-1960 A *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.

* Correspondence to: maodagan@njau.edu.cn

Handling Editor: Gilles Charpigny

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 35(18) 723-732 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD23121
Submitted: 15 January 2023  Accepted: 26 October 2023  Published online: 16 November 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Context

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) play an important role in the uteri. Repulsive guidance molecule b (RGMb; a.k.a. Dragon) has been confirmed as the coreceptor of BMPs to function through drosophila mothers against decapentaplegic protein (Smads) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathways. We hypothesise that RGMb regulates the uterine function through the Smads and MAPK pathways.

Aims

This study aimed to investigate the expression of RGMb in goat uteri and the potential role of RGMb in the endometrial epithelial cells (EECs).

Methods

The localisation of RGMb in goat uterine tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), EECs were isolated and transfected with siRNA to investigate the role of RGMb in proliferation, and apoptosis. The expression levels of Smads and MAPK members was measured by western blot (WB) and real-time PCR (RT-PCR).

Key results

IHC showed that RGMb was localised in goat endometrial luminal cells, glandular epithelial cells, and circular muscle fibres, but not in stromal cells. RT-PCR results showed that treatment with RGMb siRNA suppressed the expressions of proliferation-related genes cyclin D1 (CCND1, P = 0.0291), cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2 P = 0.0107), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA, P = 0.0508), leading to the reduced viability of EECs (P = 0.0010). WB results showed that the expression ratio of cleaved-caspase 3/caspase 3 (P = 0.0013) was markedly increased after RGMb siRNA transfection. Likewise, the level of phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2, P = 0.0068) and p-Smad1/5/8 (P = 0.0011) decreased significantly, while there were no appreciable differences in the level of p-P38 MAPK expression (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

RGMb might participate in the regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis through Smads and ERK signalling pathways in goat EECs.

Implications

RGMb is involved in regulating the proliferation and apoptosis in goat endometrial epithelial cells.

Keywords: apoptosis, BMP, endometrial epithelial cells, ERK, goat, proliferation, RGMb, Smads.

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