Abstract
In mated sows, the level of placental vascularization has a direct effect on fetal growth and litter birth weight. Vascularization of the endometrium and uterus under the control of various polypeptide growth factors is an important early stage in this process. Basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), a polypeptide distributed throughout the mesodermal and neuroectodermal tissues of many species, is a vascular endothelial cell mitogen in vitro and has been implicated in neovascularization and wound healing in vivo. As part of our studies of the distribution of FGF-2 in uterine tissue and its role in placental development and embryo implantation, the localization and changes in the abundance of porcine FGF-2 mRNA in the uterus of mated and unmated gilts were investigated by in situ hybridization procedures. These procedures were based on the use of [alpha35S]-dATP-labeled oligonucleotide probes and a novel set of digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide probes generated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods and anti-sense labeling strategies from the corresponding mRNA templates. With these in situ hybridization procedures, porcine FGF-2 mRNA was localized during the first 30 days of pregnancy to specific tissue areas in the porcine uterus comprising glandular and luminal epithelial cells and stromal cells of both the stratum functionalis and stratum basalis regions of the endometrium, and within the smooth muscle of myometrium and the associated blood vessels. However, no significant increase in the level of FGF-2 mRNA within these tissues was detected during these early stages of pregnancy or during the estrous cycle of unmated gilts. These distribution and abundance patterns are only partially compatible with other recent observations suggesting a possible role for changing levels of the mature polypeptide form of FGF-2 in the reproductive tract of sows during the early stages of pregnancy.