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JHC exPRESS: First Published January 22, 2007. doi:10.1369/jhc.6A7053.2007
Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry
Copyright © 2007 Nio & Iwanaga

A more recent version of this article appeared on May 1, 2007.
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Galectins in the Mouse Ovary: Concomitant Expression of Galectin-3 and Progesterone Degradation Enzyme (20{alpha}-HSD) in the Corpus Luteum

Junko Nio 1* and Toshihiko Iwanaga 1

1 Laboratory of Histology and Cytology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: niojun{at}med.hokudai.ac.jp.

Submitted on July 7, 2006
Accepted on 12 December 2006


  Abstract
Galectin, an animal lectin which recognizes {beta}-galactosides of glycoconjugates, is involved in multiple biological functions such as cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, and signal transduction. The present study employing in situ hybridization revealed the predominant expression of galectin-1 and galectin-3 in the mouse ovary. Galectin-1 mRNA was diffusely expressed in the ovarian stroma, including the interstitial glands and theca interna, and intensely expressed in the corpus luteum (CL) at particular stages of regression. Transcripts of galectin-3 were restricted to CL and always coincident to the expression of 20{alpha}-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20{alpha}-HSD), a progesterone degradation enzyme. In the non-pregnant ovary, signals for both galectin-1 and galectin-3 were intense in the old, regressing CL formed at previous estrous cycles. In the newly formed CL, the signal intensity of galectin-1 first increased at the starting point of regression followed by increasing galectin-3/20{alpha}-HSD expressions. Under gestation with active progesterone production, signals for both galectin-1 and galectin-3 in CL completely disappeared. At the perinatal stage, the intense expressions of galectin-3/20{alpha}-HSD recovered in the remaining CL of gestation with the temporal expression of galectin-1, and continued until weaning. These findings suggest that galectin-1 and galectin-3 may mediate the progesterone production and metabolism in luteal cells via different mechanisms.

Key Words: galectin-1, galectin-3, 20{alpha}-HSD, ovary, corpus luteum, progesterone


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