Skip to Content
Merck

Ovarian LGR5 is critical for successful pregnancy.

FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (2014-01-29)
Xiaofei Sun, Jumpei Terakawa, Hans Clevers, Nick Barker, Takiko Daikoku, Sudhansu K Dey
ABSTRACT

Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) is expressed in many organs, including female reproductive organs, and is a stem cell marker in the stomach and intestinal epithelium, hair follicles, and ovarian surface epithelium. Despite ongoing studies, the definitive physiological functions of Lgr5 remain unclear. We utilized mice with conditional deletion of Lgr5 (Lgr5(d/d)) in the female reproductive organs by progesterone receptor-Cre (Pgr(Cre)) to determine Lgr5's functions during pregnancy. Only 30% of plugged Lgr5(d/d) females delivered live pups, and their litter sizes were lower. We found that pregnancy failure in Lgr5(d/d) females was due to insufficient ovarian progesterone (P4) secretion that compromised decidualization, terminating pregnancy. The drop in P4 levels was reflected in elevated levels of P4-metabolizing enzyme 20α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in corpora lutea (CL) inactivated of Lgr5. Of interest, P4 supplementation rescued decidualization failure and supported pregnancy to full term in Lgr5(d/d) females. These results provide strong evidence that Lgr5 is critical to normal CL function, unveiling a new role of LGR5 in the ovary.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Supelco
Progesterone, Pharmaceutical Secondary Standard; Certified Reference Material
USP
Progesterone, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Reference Standard
Progesterone, European Pharmacopoeia (EP) Reference Standard
Sigma-Aldrich
Progesterone, powder, BioReagent, suitable for cell culture
Sigma-Aldrich
Progesterone, γ-irradiated, BioXtra, suitable for cell culture
Sigma-Aldrich
Progesterone, ≥99%
Sigma-Aldrich
Progesterone, meets USP testing specifications
Supelco
Progesterone, VETRANAL®, analytical standard
Supelco
Progesterone solution, 1.0 mg/mL in acetonitrile, ampule of 1 mL, certified reference material, Cerilliant®