MicroRNA Regulation of Endocrine Functions in the Ovary
MicroRNA regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level, and have important roles that control endocrine regulation of the ovary. While previous studies investigated changes in miRNA expression within the different cell types of the ovary, an
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MicroRNA Regulation of Endocrine Functions in the Ovary Pavla Brachova, Wei-Ting Hung, Lynda K. McGinnis, and Lane K. Christenson
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Introduction
The ovaries have two main roles in maintaining normal reproductive functions: an exocrine role of producing the oocyte, and an endocrine role of producing sex hormones. The endocrine properties of the ovaries appear in a cyclical manner starting at puberty and continue throughout a female’s reproductive lifespan, with each cycle resulting in the maturation of an ovarian follicle or atresia of non-dominant follicles. For successful reproduction to occur, the ovary must complete follicular development, ovulation, formation of a corpus luteum, and luteolysis. Successful networking and cooperation between the somatic cells (granulosa, theca, luteal, endothelial, immune, and epithelial cells) and the germ line (oocyte) is necessary to establish this pattern of regular ovulatory cycles. The gene regulatory networks are temporally and spatially regulated through intricate transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. Transcriptional regulation has been well studied and reviewed in detail (Lavoie and King 2009; Richards 1994; Espey and Richards 2002), but much less is known about post-transcriptional regulation in reproductive organs. Post-transcriptional regulation can involve a multitude of events downstream of transcription, including mRNA splicing, RNA editing, RNA transportation, RNA storage, all the way through translation. This form of regulation is important because it allows for fine-tuning of gene expression, in a tissue specific manner independent of transcription (Carletti and Christenson 2009). These post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, however are difficult to systematically study, since they are often gene specific and the cell physiologic context can have dramatic influences on the regulatory mechanisms.
P. Brachova • W.-T. Hung • L.K. McGinnis • L.K. Christenson (*) Department Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Mail Stop 3043, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 K.M.J. Menon, A.C. Goldstrohm (eds.), Post-transcriptional Mechanisms in Endocrine Regulation, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-25124-0_6
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Thus, much of the evidence for post-transcriptional regulation in ovarian endocrine function has arisen on a gene-by-gene basis typically when differences in mRNA and protein expression are observed to be out of synch with each other. An exception to this limitation is in the study of microRNA (miRNA, miR) mediated post-transcriptional regulation. This is largely due to the use of targeted gene deletion of several key enzymatic steps in the miRNA biosynthetic pathway. MicroRNA signaling is crucial for control of ovarian function by regulating aspects of folliculogenesis, oocyte maturation, ovulation and luteal function. In this review we will focus on miRNA’s role in regulation of ovarian endocr
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