Potential role of interleukin-1 at the peri-ovulation stage in a species of placental viviparous reptile, the three-toed
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Potential role of interleukin-1 at the peri-ovulation stage in a species of placental viviparous reptile, the three-toed skink, Chalcides chalcides (squamata: scincidae) Roberta Romagnoli1, Chiara Cateni2, Fabio M Guarino3, Elisa Bigliardi4 and Luana Ricci Paulesu*5 Address: 1Department of Physiology, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy, 2Department of Physiology, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy, 3Department of Evolutionary and Comparative Biology, University of Naples, 80134 Naples, Italy, 4Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy and 5Department of Physiology, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy Email: Roberta Romagnoli - [email protected]; Chiara Cateni - [email protected]; Fabio M Guarino - [email protected]; Elisa Bigliardi - [email protected]; Luana Ricci Paulesu* - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 18 September 2003 Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2003, 1:60
Received: 25 June 2003 Accepted: 18 September 2003
This article is available from: http://www.RBEj.com/content/1/1/60 © 2003 Romagnoli et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL.
Abstract We recently showed that interleukin-1 (IL-1) is secreted by the placenta of a species of squamate reptile, the three-toed skink, Chalcides chalcides. In this study, we used immunohistochemical techniques to investigate the expression of IL-1 (in the two isoforms, IL-1α and IL-1β) and its specific membrane receptor IL-1 RtI in uterine oviduct during the peri-implantation period. We found that both IL-1 and its receptor were expressed in uterine tissues before and after ovulation (in the pre-ovulatory stage, even before the yolk had formed in the ovary). However, while IL-1α was mostly localized in the uterine mesenchyme tissue, IL-1β and IL-1RtI were present in the uterine epithelium. Our data provide a further comparison between the reproduction of mammals and squamate reptiles.
Background Placental viviparity is present in mammals (except monotremes) and in numerous species of squamate reptiles and cartilaginous fishes. It involves the apposition of extra-embryonic membranes to the uterus and has different characteristics according to the membranes involved and the intimacy of the fetal and maternal tissues [1]. Despite the diversity of placentation mechanisms, there are functional and morphological similarities among the different types of placenta and the various classes of vertebrates. We recently demonstrated that the Ha58 gene, believed to be essential for placental development in mice, is present in the chorioallantoic placenta of a squamate reptile of the family Scincidae, the three-toed skink
Chalcides chalcides [2]. We also showed that this type of placenta has many aspects in common with the mammalian placenta, like glycosylation of the feto-mate
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