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Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effects of progesterone on the lipolysis of lipid droplets and prostaglandin E2 synthesis in murine cervical epithelial cells

Hongyan Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9069-8435 A * , Feng Su A * , Libo Huang A * , Boyu Li A , Xuejun Yuan B , Mingjiu Luo https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0460-8358 A C and Lijiang Ge https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4264-2266 A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Animal Science and Technology, No. 61 Daizong Street, Taian, Shandong Province, 271018, PR China.

B College of Life Science, Shandong Agricultural University, No. 61 Daizong Street, Taian, Shandong Province, 271018, PR China.

C Corresponding authors. Email: glj@sdau.edu.cn; luo9616@163.com

Reproduction, Fertility and Development - https://doi.org/10.1071/RD20195
Submitted: 26 July 2020  Accepted: 13 November 2020   Published online: 28 January 2021

Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated that progesterone (P4) can promote prostaglandin (PG) E2 production; however, how P4 mediates the synthesis of PGE2 remains unclear. In this study, cervical epithelial cells from mice during the follicular phase were cultured in vitro and treated with different concentrations of P4 (5, 10, and 20 nM). The results of the present study suggest that treatment of murine cervical epithelial cells with 10 nM P4 for 24 h contributed to: (1) significantly increased expression of protein kinase A (PKA), cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) and PGE synthase (PGES)-1; (2) higher phosphorylated (p-) to total extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) ratios; (3) a significant decrease in the number of lipid droplets (LDs) and fatty acid content within LDs in epithelial cells; and (4) enhanced arachidonic acid and PGE2 levels in cells compared with the control (0 nM P4) group (P < 0.01 for all findings). In contrast, the PKA inhibitor H89 contributed to significantly decreased cPLA2, PGES-1 and HSL expression, ERK1/2 phosphorylation and arachidonic acid and PGE2 levels, even in the presence of P4. These data show that P4 can act via the PKA/ERK1/2 pathway to stimulate lipolysis of triacylglycerol in the LD core and degradation of phospholipid in the LD membrane to promote PGE2 synthesis in murine cervical epithelial cells.

Graphical Abstract Image

Keywords: cervical epithelial cells, lipid droplets, neutral lipase, progesterone, prostaglandin, protein kinase A/extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 pathway.


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