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Article
Open AccessUterine lumen fluid is metabolically semi-autonomous
Uterine lumen fluid (ULF) is central to successful pregnancy establishment and maintenance, and impacts offspring wellbeing into adulthood. The current dogma is that ULF composition is primarily governed by en...
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Chapter
Mammalian Placentation: A Tribute to E.C. Amoroso’s Contributions to Placenta Development
Establishment of viviparity in mammals evolved through not only the long-term retainment of the fetus within the maternal uterus but differentiation and expansion of cell layers to form functional membranes to...
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Chapter
Implantation and Placentation in Ruminants
In comparison to many other mammalian species, ruminant ungulates have a unique form of placentation. Ruminants initially display an epitheliochorial type of placentation; however, during the period of placent...
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Article
Open AccessIdentification of loci associated with conception rate in primiparous Holstein cows
Subfertility is a major issue facing the dairy industry as the average US Holstein cow conception rate (CCR) is approximately 35%. The genetics underlying the physiological processes responsible for CCR, the p...
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Article
Open AccessValidation of 46 loci associated with female fertility traits in cattle
Subfertility is one challenge facing the dairy industry as the average Holstein heifer conception rate (HCR), the proportion of heifers that conceive and maintain a pregnancy per breeding, is estimated at 55–6...
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Article
Open AccessUterine glands coordinate on-time embryo implantation and impact endometrial decidualization for pregnancy success
Uterine glands are essential for pregnancy establishment. By employing forkhead box A2 (FOXA2)-deficient mouse models coupled with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) repletion, we reveal definitive roles of uter...
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Article
Open AccessUterine glands impact uterine receptivity, luminal fluid homeostasis and blastocyst implantation
Uterine glands are essential for pregnancy in mice and likely humans, because they secrete or transport bioactive substances that regulate uterine receptivity for blastocyst implantation. In mice, the uterus b...
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Chapter
Implantation and Establishment of Pregnancy in Ruminants
The establishment of pregnancy in ruminants occurs during the peri-implantation period and involves the suppression of the endometrial luteolytic mechanism to maintain progesterone production by the corpus lut...
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Article
Open AccessConceptus elongation in ruminants: roles of progesterone, prostaglandin, interferon tau and cortisol
The majority of pregnancy loss in ruminants occurs during the first three weeks after conception, particularly during the period of conceptus elongation that occurs prior to pregnancy recognition and implantat...
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Article
Open AccessAlterations in expression of endometrial genes coding for proteins secreted into the uterine lumen during conceptus elongation in cattle
We hypothesized that genes that are up-regulated in the uterine endometrium at the initiation of conceptus elongation in cattle, and that encode for secreted proteins, contribute to the composition of the uter...
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Chapter
The Evolutionary Interplay Between Exogenous and Endogenous Sheep Betaretroviruses
Sheep betaretroviruses represent an interesting model to study the complex evolutionary interplay between host and pathogen in natural settings. In infected sheep, the exogenous and pathogenic Jaagsiekte shee...
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Article
Proline and hydroxyproline metabolism: implications for animal and human nutrition
Proline plays important roles in protein synthesis and structure, metabolism (particularly the synthesis of arginine, polyamines, and glutamate via pyrroline-5-carboxylate), and nutrition, as well as wound hea...
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Article
Beneficial effects of l-arginine on reducing obesity: potential mechanisms and important implications for human health
Over the past 20 years, growing interest in the biochemistry, nutrition, and pharmacology of l-arginine has led to extensive studies to explore its nutritional and therapeutic roles in treating and preventing hum...
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Article
Open AccessActivation of the transcription factor, nuclear factor kappa-B, during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy in the pig
Establishment and maintenance of pregnancy in the pig involves intricate communication between the develo** conceptuses and the maternal endometrium. This process occurs during trophoblast elongation which i...
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Article
Amino acids and gaseous signaling
Gases, such as nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are known toxic pollutants in the air. However, they are now recognized as important signaling molecules sy...
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Article
High fat feeding and dietary l-arginine supplementation differentially regulate gene expression in rat white adipose tissue
Dietary l-arginine (Arg) supplementation reduces white-fat gain in diet-induced obese rats but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. This study tested the hypothesis that Arg treatment affects expression of gene...
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Article
Arginine metabolism and nutrition in growth, health and disease
l-Arginine (Arg) is synthesised from glutamine, glutamate, and proline via the intestinal-renal axis in humans and most other mammals (including pigs, sheep and rats). Arg degradation occ...
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Protocol
Methods for Studying Interferon Tau Stimulated Genes
Interferon (IFN)τ, a Type I IFN produced by the conceptus trophectoderm, is the pregnancy recognition signal in ruminants that prevents development of the endometrial luteolytic mechanism. In addition, IFNτ ac...
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Protocol
Sheep Uterine Gland Knockout (UGKO) Model
Endometrial gland development is a postnatal event in the ovine uterus that can be inhibited epigenetically by chronic exposure of ewe lambs to a synthetic progestin after birth. The uterus of neonatally proge...
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Chapter
Uterine Glands
This chapter focuses on the comparative development and mechanisms regulating branching morphogenesis of endometrial glands in the mammalian uterus. All uteri contain endometrial glands that secrete substances...
