Dairy cow subfertility is a worldwide issue arising from multiple factors. It manifests in >30% early pregnancy losses in seasonal pasture-grazed herds, especially when cows are inseminated in the early post-partum period. Most losses occur before implantation, when embryo growth depends on factors present in maternal tract fluids. Here we used label-free LC-MS/MS to examine the proteomic composition of uterine luminal fluid in 87 day-7 pregnant cows to identify potential biomarkers of fertility. We also determined changes in uterine luminal fluid from first to third oestrus cycles postpartum in individual cows and linked those changes with divergent embryo development. Out of 1563 proteins detected, 472 had not been previously reported in this fluid, and 408 were predicted to be actively secreted by bioinformatic analysis. The abundance of 19 proteins with roles in immune regulation and metabolic function was associated with contrasting embryo quality (e.g. cystatin B, pyruvate kinase M2). Matched-paired pathway analysis indicated that, from first to third oestrus postpartum, upregulation of metabolic (e.g. creatine and carbohydrate) and immune (e.g. complement system regulation and antiviral defence) processes were related to poorer quality embryos in the third oestrus cycle postpartum. Conversely, upregulated signal transduction and protein trafficking appeared related to improved embryo quality in third oestrus. These results advance the characterisation of the molecular environment of bovine uterine luminal fluid and may aid in understanding fertility issues in other mammals, including humans.
[doi:10.25345/C57B9J]
[dataset license: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)]
Keywords: early development female reproductive tract proteomics ruminants uterus livestock embryo fertility
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Dr. Jessica Gathercole, Agresearch, New Zealand |
Submitting User: | arancian |
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