HIF-1alpha Sliencing is a Tool for Establishing Biological Information Network on Cell Engneering of Ovarian Follicular Development in Sprague-Dawley Rats Primed by PMSG

Ovarian follicular development is regulated by different signaling network, many studies have indicated that hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha plays an important role in ovarian functions, like ovulation and luteal development. The present study used HIF-1alpha silencing technology to examine that HIF-1alpha contributed to the follicular development and maturation in the rat ovary primed by pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) through regulating the expressions of its target genes, like proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for establishing the biological nnformation network. In the present study, HIF-1alpha silencing was confirmed by real-time PCR and the decreases of growing and antral follicle numbers were found through histological examination. Furthermore, PCNA and VEGF expressions were found to significantly decrease in the ovaries after HIF-1alpha silencing, suggesting the regulatory roles of HIF-1alpha in the follicular development. Together, these results demonstrated this HIF-1alpha-mediated PCNA/VEGF may be one of the important mechanisms regulating the ovarian follicular development in mammals, which developed HIF-alpha-PCNA/VEGF signaling pathway involved in the network regulating follicular development.