Jk. Pru et al., Pregnancy and interferon-tau upregulate gene expression of members of the 1-8 family in the bovine uterus, BIOL REPROD, 65(5), 2001, pp. 1471-1480
The 1-8 family (1-8U, 1-8D, Leu-13/9-27) of interferon (IFN)inducible genes
encodes proteins that are components of multimeric complexes involved with
transduction of antiproliferative and homotypic adhesion signals. Human 1-
8 family members are highly similar and are regulated by type 1 and type 2
IFNs. Because the bovine uterus is bathed in conceptus-derived IFN tau duri
ng early pregnancy, it was hypothesized that members of the 1-8 family were
upregulated in the bovine uterus during early pregnancy. Oligonucleotide p
rimers were designed based on human and rat 1-8U and Leu-13 cDNAs and used
in reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions to amplify bovine cDNAs
from endometrial RNA. The bovine 1-8U cDNA was sequenced, found to be 84%
identical to the human 1-8U, and used to screen a bovine endometrial cDNA l
ibrary to isolate the full-length 1-8U and Leu-13 cDNAs. The inferred amino
acid sequences of bovine 1-8U and Leu-13 were 72% and 73% identical to the
ir respective human counterparts. Bovine 1-8U and Leu-13 retain an amino ac
id motif that is conserved in other 1-8 family members and in some ubiquiti
n-conjugating enzymes (E2s). This motif is critical for function of E2s in
covalently linking ubiquitin to targeted proteins. Northern blotting reveal
ed that bovine endometrial 1-8U and Leu-13 mRNAs were upregulated on Day 15
of pregnancy (P < 0.0001) and continued to accumulate through Day 18 of pr
egnancy (P < 0.05) when compared with endometrium from nonpregnant cows. Th
e bovine 1-8U and Leu-13 mRNAs were also upregulated (P < 0.05) by IFN tau
(25 nM) within 3 h, continued to accumulate through 12 h, and reached a pla
teau at 12-24 h in cultured bovine endometrial cells. in situ hybridization
revealed that mRNAs encoding 1-8 family members were heavily localized to
glandular epithelium but also were present to a lesser extent in the lumina
l epithelium and stroma. The temporal upregulation of 1-8U and Leu-13 mRNAs
by pregnancy and IFN tau and tissue distribution of these mRNAs paralleled
closely that of the ubiquitin homolog, IFN-stimulated gene product 17. The
se IFN-induced proteins probably work together to prepare the endometrium f
or adhesion of the developing conceptus.