Skip Navigation



Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on April 7, 2009
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dep063
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF )
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
24/7/1748    most recent
dep063v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yata, A.
Right arrow Articles by Maruo, T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Yata, A.
Right arrow Articles by Maruo, T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Suppression of progesterone production by stresscopin/urocortin 3 in cultured human granulosa-lutein cells

Ai Yata, Koji Nakabayashi1, Senn Wakahashi, Nobuyuki Maruo, Noriyuki Ohara and Takeshi Maruo

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-Cho, Chuo-Ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan

1 Correspondence address. Tel: +81-78-382-6000; Fax: +81-78-382-6019; E-mail: koji{at}med.kobe-u.ac.jp

BACKGROUND: Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and its receptors have been identified in female reproductive tissues. CRH regulates follicular maturation, ovulation, luteolysis and steroidgenesis. A CRH-related peptide stresscopin (SCP), or urocortin III (Ucn3), has recently been identified, but its functions in the ovary remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effects of SCP/Ucn3 on progesterone production in cultured human granulosa-lutein cells.

METHODS: The presence of SCP/Ucn3 and CRH type-2 receptor (CRHR2) in cultured granulosa-lutein cells from 21 infertile women (aged 22–36 years) was examined by RT–PCR and immunocytochemistry. The concentration of SCP/Ucn3 in follicular fluid, human serum and culture medium was examined by radioimmunoassay. Progesterone production by cultured granulosa-lutein cells treated with SCP/Ucn3 was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: SCP/Ucn3 and CRHR2 mRNAs and proteins were expressed in granulosa-lutein cells. SCP/Ucn3 was detected in culture media of granulosa-lutein cells and follicular fluid. Treatment of cultured granulosa-lutein cells with 0.1, 1.0 or 10 nM SCP/Ucn3 decreased progesterone secretion when compared with untreated control (all P < 0.05). Concomitant treatment with the CRHR2 antagonist antisauvagine-30 counteracted the inhibitory effects of SCP/Ucn3 on progesterone secretion, suggesting a mediatory role of CRHR2.

Conclusions: The present results suggest that the SCP/CRHR2 system is present in human ovaries and treatment with SCP/Ucn3 inhibits progesterone production by cultured granulosa-lutein cells through interaction with CRHR2.

Key words: stresscopin/urocortin 3/ovary/granulosa cell/steroidogenesis

Submitted on December 5, 2008; resubmitted on February 4, 2009; accepted on February 10, 2009.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.