1. Reduced Vitellogenesis and Female Fertility in Gper Knockout Zebrafish
- Author
-
Yong Zhu, Peter Thomas, Aubrey Converse, Marcus Jermaul Williams, Kimberly A. Kew, and Xin-Jun Wu
- Subjects
Ovulation ,0301 basic medicine ,medicine.drug_class ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,Estrogen receptor ,030209 endocrinology & metabolism ,oocyte growth ,lcsh:Diseases of the endocrine glands. Clinical endocrinology ,Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ,Andrology ,Vitellogenins ,03 medical and health sciences ,Vitellogenin ,Follicle ,Endocrinology ,0302 clinical medicine ,Ovarian Follicle ,G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (Gper) ,medicine ,Animals ,Metabolomics ,Ovarian follicle ,Zebrafish ,Original Research ,lcsh:RC648-665 ,biology ,Cell Membrane ,Vitellogenesis ,Fishes ,Estrogens ,Zebrafish Proteins ,biology.organism_classification ,ErbB Receptors ,Fertility ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Receptors, Estrogen ,Estrogen ,Mutation ,Oocytes ,biology.protein ,Female ,reduced fertility ,vitellogenin ,GPER ,epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) - Abstract
The role G-protein coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) plays in vertebrate reproduction remains controversial. To investigate GPER’s reproductive role, we generated a gper zebrafish mutant line (gper−/−) using TALENs. Gper mutant females exhibited reduced fertility with a 40.85% decrease in embryo production which was associated with a significant decrease in the number of Stage V (730–750 μm) ovulated oocytes. Correspondingly, the number of early vitellogenic follicles (Stage III, 400–450 µm) in gper−/− ovaries was greater than that in wildtypes (wt), suggesting that subsequent follicle development was retarded in the gper−/− fish. Moreover, plasma vitellogenin levels were decreased in gper−/− females, and epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) expression was lower in Stage III vitellogenic oocytes than in wt counterparts. However, hepatic nuclear estrogen receptor levels were not altered, and estrogen levels were elevated in ovarian follicles. These results suggest that Gper is involved in the control of ovarian follicle development via regulation of vitellogenesis and Egfr expression in zebrafish.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF