ECE2019 Poster Presentations Interdisciplinary Endocrinology 1 (46 abstracts)
Dominance of ovarian follicles is determined by follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) heteromers
Livio Casarini 1, , Clara Lazzaretti 1, , Elia Paradiso 1, , Laura Riccetti 1 , Samantha Sperduti 1 , Serena Marcozzi 4 , Niamh Sayers 5 , Giulia Brigante 1, , Francesco Potì 7 , Antonio La Marca 8, , Barbara Valli 10 , Angela Falbo 10 , Maria Teresa Villani 10 , Francesca Gioia Klinger 4 , Francesca Fane 11, , Aylin Carla Hanyaloglu 5 & Manuela Simoni 12,
1Unit of Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 2Center for Genomic Research, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 3International Doctorate School (PhD) in Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 4Histology and Embryology Section, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy; 5Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK; 6Department of Medical Specialties, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Modena, Modena, Italy; 7Unit of Neurosciences, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; 8Mother-Infant Department, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 9Clinica EUGIN, Modena, Italy; 10Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Fertility Center, ASMN. Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale – IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy; 11Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; 12Center for Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, Modena, Italy.
Mechanisms regulating the selection of antral ovarian follicles are poorly understood and supposed to rely on low estrogen levels, decline of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels and receptor (FSHR) expression on the surface of granulosa cells. These concepts are challenged in-vitro, where apoptosis of human granulosa cells (hGLC) and transfected cell lines is induced by high doses of FSH or FSHR overexpression, while estrogens induce anti-apoptotic signals via nuclear and a G protein-coupled estrogen-receptor (GPER). Therefore, in-vitro data suggest that antral follicle selection may be driven by underestimated, FSH-FSHR-dependent apoptotic signals due to transiently maximized FSHR expression and overload of cAMP signalling, prevailing on estrogen-dependent signals. In this study, we demonstrate how estrogens can rescue the dominant follicle from FSHR-mediated death.
Experiments: 10 nM FSH induces high intracelular levels of cAMP (FSH 160×10−3±26×10−3 vs basal 5×10−3±9×10−3 bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)-changes; Mann-Whitney’s U-test; P<0.05; n=5; mean±S.D.) and apoptosis in cultured hGLC under conditions where GPER levels are depleted by siRNA. This result was confirmed in transfected HEK293 cells overexpressing FSHR. Using BRET and photo-activated localization microscopy (PALM), we also demonstrate that FSHR forms heteromers with GPER at the cell surface. The role of FSHR-GPER heteromers may be relevant to inhibit FSH-induced death signals, since increasing GPER expression levels in HEK293 cells coexpressing FSHR results in displacement of the Gαs-protein to FSHR (IC50=0.221±0.002; r2=0.546; nonlinear regression; n=3; mean±S.D.), blockade of FSH-induced cAMP production (FSH 0−10−3±6−10−3 vs basal 1−10−3±9−10−3 BRET-changes; Mann-Whitney’s U-test; P<0.05; n=5; mean±S.D.) and inhibition of apoptosis. Interestingly, in HEK293 cells coexpressing GPER/FSHR, FSH-induced activation of the anti-apoptotic AKT-pathway via a Gβγ-dependent mechanism, as demonstrated by Western blotting in cells treated using the inhibitor gallein. Critically, inhibition of both FSH-induced cAMP production (FSH 152×24−3±24×10−3 vs basal 5−10−3±9−10−3 BRET changes; Mann-Whitney’s U-test; P<0.05; n=4; mean±S.D.) and apoptosis was lost when FSHR is coexpressed together with a mutant GPER, unable to heteromerize with FSHR (r2=0.7×10−3; P=0.86; linear regression). GPER-FSHR coexpression is confirmed in secondary follicles from paraffin-embedded tissues of human ovary by immunohistochemistry, suggesting that FSHR-GPER heterodimers could be physiologically relevant in-vivo for inhibiting cAMP-linked apoptosis. We demonstrate that death signals in atretic follicles are delivered through overexpressed FSHR and inhibited by FSHR-GPER heteromerization, activating anti-apoptotic pathways. This finding unveils a novel working model of the physiology of dominant follicle selection and the relationship between FSH and estrogens.
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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