Effect of Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6 (BMP6) on Chicken Granulose Cells Proliferation and Progesterone Synthesis

ABSTRACT There is increasing evidence that bone morphogenetic protein 6 (BMP6) plays critical roles in regulating various stages of ovarian follicle development in mammals. However, the mechanisms of regulation of BMP6 in the chicken ovary remain unclear. In this study, mRNA and protein expression level of BMP6 in chicken ovarian follicles at different development stages were determined by qRT-PCR and western blot separately. Different concentrations of BMP6 protein and FSH were added to the culture medium, and the effects to proliferation of granulose cells were detected, further effect on expression pattern of progesterone synthesis associated genes were also analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting and the secretion of progesterone was detected by ELISA. The results showed that mRNA and protein expression level of BMP6 increased significantly in the follicle with the development of follicle (p