Ciliary Motility in Bovine Oviducts for Sensing Rapid Non-genomic Reactions upon Exposure to Progesterone

Abstract

Based on the expression of hormone receptors, oviductal cells receive a series of signals to control the conduit and transport of gametes. Most cells in the inner oviductal mucosa have motile cilia, and the mucociliary system of oviducts represents a prominent object of study for rapid feedback after application of steroid hormones. Using a high-speed reflectometry method, we investigated effects on the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) of bovine oviductal explants after progesterone treatment. To classify changes of CBF as either classic or non-classic reactions, we pretreated primary tissue cultures with mifepristone, an antagonist to the classic progesterone receptor in a second experimental series. In contrast to classical genomic reactions, non-classic or non-genomic reactions are characterized by fast effects, insensitive to the classic receptor antagonist. We observed inhibitory effects on the ciliary beat frequency as soon as 15 minutes after application of progesterone (20 µM), reaching a plateau of about 11 % after 90 minutes. Pretreatment with mifepristone (20 µM) for two hours did not induce significant differences in short-term reactions. However, the inhibitory influence of progesterone after 24 hours could be effectively prevented. Our data confirmed the short-term reaction of CBF as non-genomic or non-classic.

Fallopian tube - Ciliary beat frequency - Metachronism - Steroid hormones - RU 486

References

• 1 Wilson J D, Wiliams H D. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology 9th ed. Philadelphia; Saunders 1998
• 2 Cato A CB, Nestl A, Mink S. Rapid Actions of Steroid Receptors in Cellular Signaling Pathways. Science stke 2002; www.stke.org/cgi/content/full/sigtrans;2002/138/re9. 
• 3 Runnebaum B, Runnebaum H, Stoiber I, Zander J. Progesterone, 20 alpha-dihydroprogesterone and 20 beta-dihydroprogesterone levels in different compartments from the human foeto-placental unit.  Acta Endocrinol. 1975;  80 558-568
• 4 Wessel T H, Meier S, Schuchter U, Walt H. Analysis of ciliary metachronism for detection of rapid hormone and hormone-like effects in oviductal epithelia. Poster Abstracts from the International Meeting of the Interest Group for Cilia, Mucus, and Mucociliary Interactions and the PCD Foundation, November 14, 2002, Miami Beach, Florida.  Journal of Aerosol Medicine. 2002;  15 446-459
• 5 Lyons R A, Djahanbakhch O, Mahmood T, Saridogan E, Sattar S, Sheaff M T, Naftalin A A, Chenoy R. Fallopian tube ciliary beat frequency in relation to the stage of menstrual cycle and anatomical site.  Hum Reprod. 2002;  17 584-588
• 6 Mahmood T, Saridogan E, Smutna S, Habib A M, Djahanbakhch O. The effect of ovarian steroids on epithelial ciliary beat frequency in the human Fallopian tube.  Hum Reprod. 1998;  13 2991-2994
• 7 Paltieli Y, Eibschitz I, Ziskind G, Ohel G, Silbermann M, Weichselbaum A. High progesterone levels and ciliary dysfunction - a possible cause of ectopic pregnancy.  J Assist Reprod Genet. 2000;  17 103-106
• 8 Weström L, Mårdh P A, von Mecklenburg C, Håkansson C H. Studies on ciliated epithelia of the human genital tract. II. The mucocilliary wave pattern of fallopian tube epithelium.  Fertil Steril. 1977;  28 955-961
• 9 Pschyrembel Klinisches Wörterbuch. Berlin; de Gruyter 2002
• 10 Satir P. Studies on cilia. III. Further studies on the cilium tip and a ”sliding filament” model of ciliary motility.  J Cell Biol. 1968;  39 77-94
• 11 Sleigh M A, Blake J R, Liron N. The Propulsion of Mucus by Cilia.  Am Rev Respir Dis. 1988;  137 726-741
• 12 Maller J L. The elusive progesterone receptor in Xenopus oocytes.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A.. 2001;  98 8-10
• 13 Wyatt T A, Spurzem J R, May K, Sisson J H. Regulation of ciliary beat frequency by both PKA and PKG in bovine airway epithelial cells.  Am J Physiol. 1998;  275 L827-835
• 14 Tamaoki J, Kondo M, Takizawa T. Adenosine-mediated cyclic AMP-dependent inhibition of ciliary activity in rabbit tracheal epithelium.  Am Rev Respir Dis. 1989;  139 441-445
• 15 Ehring G R, Kerschbaum H H, Eder C, Neben A L, Fanger C M, Khoury R M, Negulescu P A, Cahalan M D. A nongenomic mechanism for progesterone-mediated immunosuppression: inhibition of K⁺ channels, Ca²⁺ signaling, and gene expression in T lymphocytes.  J Exp Med. 1998;  188 1593-1602