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Expression of estrogen receptor, androgen receptor, and progesterone nuclear receptor in sheep uterus during the estrous cycle.

Estrogen, androgen, and progesterone are involved in the regulation of uterine physiological functions, with the participation of the following proteins: estrogen receptor (ER), androgen receptor (AR), and progesterone nuclear receptor (PGR). In this study, we used immunohistochemistry to detect the localization of ERα, ERβ, AR, and PGR in sheep uterus. Additionally, we used real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blot technique to analyze their expression profiles at different stages of sheep estrous cycle in the endometrium and myometrium. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that ERα, ERβ, AR, and PGR were present in sheep uterus in estrus, mainly in the uterine luminal epithelium, stroma, gland, and myometrium. RT-qPCR results showed that in the endometrium, ERα expression level was highest in estrus. ERβ and PGR, instead, were highly expressed in proestrus. In the myometrium, ERα was highly expressed in both estrus and proestrus, and ERβ was highly expressed in estrus and diestrus. PGR expression was highest in estrus, followed by metestrus. In the endometrium, both receptors ERα and ERβ were abundant in proestrus, while the maximum AR protein content was found in estrus. At this stage of the estrous cycle, PGR protein concentration in the myometrium was significantly lower than those observed in other stages. These results suggest that these receptors are important for sheep reproductive function, as their expression at mRNA and protein levels exhibit particular time- and tissue-specific profiles along the estrous cycle. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.