This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Follicular fluid proteins differentially expressed in women with PCOS
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Proteins essential to follicular growth demonstrated differential expression in the follicular fluid of women with polycystic ovary syndrome, according to research published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Based on an analysis of fluid samples from normo-ovulatory women and women with PCOS undergoing in vitro fertilization, researchers said the altered protein levels may partly explain the atypical development and release of oocyte during folliculogenesis.
“Only two studies have reported changes in the expression levels of a small number of proteins in the follicular fluid obtained from these women,” the researchers wrote. “We reasoned that several other proteins might be altered in terms of abundance in the follicular fluid of women with PCOS, which have not yet been explored.”
Aditi S. Ambekar, a PhD student in molecular endocrinology at the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Indian Council of Medical Research in Mumbai, India, and colleagues compared fluid protein repertoire in women with PCOS (n=26; median age, 31.6 years) vs. healthy women (n=26; median age, 32 years).
Fluid proteins were subjected to digestion with trypsin. Resultant peptides were labeled with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) reagents, then analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to confirm differential abundance of designated proteins.
Of the 770 proteins identified, 186 showed differential abundance between healthy women and those with PCOS.
Proteins involved in processes of follicular development found to be deregulated in PCOS were amphiregulin, heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2, tumor necrosis factor, alpha-induced protein 6, plasminogen and lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor 1.
The researchers also identified new proteins from follicular fluid — suprabasin; S100 calcium binding protein A7 and helicase with zinc finger 2, transcriptional coactivator. Their function in the ovary, however, remains unestablished.
“Systematic evaluation of candidate molecules identified in our study would improve our ability to predict oocyte quality and probably the risk of development of PCOS and may also facilitate improved therapeutic interventions in the future,” the researchers wrote.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts