| First Author | Sato H | Year | 2001 |
| Journal | Biochem Biophys Res Commun | Volume | 281 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1154-60 |
| PubMed ID | 11243855 | Mgi Jnum | J:68118 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1932158 | Doi | 10.1006/bbrc.2001.4475 |
| Citation | Sato H, et al. (2001) Impaired fertility in female mice lacking urinary trypsin inhibitor. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 281(5):1154-60 |
| abstractText | Urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI) is a serine proteinase inhibitor that is found in blood and urine. To investigate the physiological functions of UTI in vivo, we generated UTI-deficient mice by gene targeting. The mice showed no obvious abnormalities and appeared healthy. However, the females displayed a severe reduction in fertility. Wild-type embryos developed normally when transplanted into UTI-deficient female mice, suggesting that UTI-deficient females have a normal ability to maintain pregnancy. The number of naturally ovulated oocytes from UTI-deficient mice was greatly reduced compared with that from wild-type mice. Histologically, oocytes with disorganized corona radiata were frequently seen in the ovaries of UTI-deficient mice after hormonal stimulation. When ovaries from UTI-deficient mice were transplanted into wild-type mice, pups derived from the transplanted ovaries were obtained, suggesting that the ovary of UTI-deficient mice functions normally if UTI is supplied from the systemic circulation. These results demonstrate that UTI plays an important role in the formation of the stable cumulus-oocyte complex that is essential for oocyte maturation and ovulation. Copyright 2001 Academic Press. |
