Reproduction Abstracts

It has been previously shown that multimeric pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a key component of the cumulus oophorus extracellular matrix. Noteworthy, cumuli from PTX3−/− mice were defective in matrix organization and fertility was impaired. PTX3 binds to both tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 6 (TNFAIP6) and inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor thereby likely serving as a cross linker for multiple hyaluronan molecules, stabilizing in this way the cumulus oopho...

Introduction: Versican is a large extracellular matrix (ECM) proteoglycan that regulates adhesion, survival, proliferation and migration of the cells, as well as ECM assembly. In rodent follicles, versican V0/V1 expression increases about 4 h after hCG induction, while in bovine granulosa cells no increase was observed post hCG injection, suggesting that versican expression may varies significantly between species. Interestingly, the versican V1 cleaved product G1-DPEAA accumu...

Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an essential component of the innate immunity with a non-redundant role in conferring resistance to pathogens and in modulating inflammatory reactions in several diseases. Pregnancy is characterized by mild systemic immunosuppression and inflammation. An uncontrolled immune activation at the fetal–maternal interface caused by bacterial infections or inflammatory stimuli is associated with high risk of miscarriage both in mice and in women. In this st...