임신 자궁 내막에서 Two-pore Domain 칼륨 통로의 발현 변화

Abstract

Endometrium undergoing hormonal change plays important roles in preparation for implantation, fetal growth, and well-being. During pregnancy, cellular remodeling and hormonal changes in endometrium could change two-pore domain K^+ channel (K_2P) expression. This study was performed to identify whether K_2P channel expression is changed in endometrium of pregnant Korean cattle, and whether the expression level is modulated by progesterone treatment. We investigated changes in the mRNA and protein expressions of K_2P channel in pregnant endometrium using RT-PCR and Western blot analyses. The expression levels of all K_2P channel mRNAs tested in this study, except that of TREK-1, were changed in the pregnant endometrium. mRNA levels of TASK-3 and TRAAK were significantly down-regulated, whereas those of TREK-2 and TRESK were up-regulated in the pregnant endometrium. In parallel with the RT-PCR results, Western blot analysis revealed up-regulations of TREK-2 (7.9-fold) and TRESK (2-fold) proteins levels in the pregnant endometrium. In addition, TREK-2 and TRESK protein levels were up-regulated in bovine endometrial cells by progesterone treatment (10 μg/ml). From these results, we suggest that the up-regulation of TREK-2 and TRESK by progesterone may contribute to the regulation of physiological changes during pregnancy.