Stage-dependent Redistribution of the V-ATPase During Bovine ImplantationMhairi A. Skinnera, Leslie A. MacLarenb, and Alan G. Wildemanaa Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada b Animal Science Department, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada Correspondence to: Alan G. Wildeman, Dept. of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Univ. of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1.
The 16-kD subunit of the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase), or ductin, is essential for the activity of this proton pump and has roles in intercellular communication and control of cell growth and differentiation. The V-ATPase is important for acidification-dependent degradation of tissue matrices through which some cell types move, and for pH regulation across some epithelial cell layers. Placentation involves intricate signaling, cell proliferation, and controlled invasion. We examined the distribution of three subunits of the V-ATPase in bovine trophoblast and endometrium at the time of implantation to determine the relationship of ductin expression to that of two other subunits, A (approximately 73 kD) and B (approximately 58 kD). Epithelial expression of all three subunits was observed, and in nonpregnant animals this expression was apical. As pregnancy proceeded, expression of all subunits became pericellular in luminal but not glandular epithelium, suggesting a redistribution of V-ATPase activity. The trophoblast expressed all three subunits during initial contact with the epithelium. In the stroma, ductin expression was reduced after implantation, and we discuss the possibility that ductin plays a role in the shifting communication between stromal and epithelial cells induced by embryo attachment. (J Histochem Cytochem 47:12471254, 1999) Key Words: implantation, V-ATPase, ductin, bovine, endometrium
The vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) pump is a multisubunit enzyme present in intracellular membrane components such as endosomes, lysosomes, clathrin-coated vesicles, and the Golgi complex. It has also been found in the plasma membrane of kidney cells, osteoclasts, macrophages, and metastatic tumor cells (
The acidification of cytoplasmic vesicles by V-ATPase provides an environment within which receptorligand complexes are targeted for degradation or recycling to the cell surface (
In addition to its role in the V-ATPase pump, ductin is found as a hexameric gap junction protein in diverse tissue types ( The molecular and cellular events that occur during initiation of placental development in mammals lead to dramatic physiological changes of the uterine endometrium. The exact molecules that initially serve to tether the embryo to the epithelium are probably different among species, and include glycoproteins and adhesion molecules. After attachment of the embryo to the uterine epithelium, limited invasion occurs and there is extensive remodeling of the epithelium and underlying stroma, including stromal proliferation and vascularization. A reduction in electrostatic charge has been observed in many species before attachment. The abundance of the V-ATPase, or ductin, in invasive osteoclasts, macrophage, and metastatic cells, and the involvement of the enzyme in acidification of vesicles or the outer membrane environment, suggests that it could play a significant role in implantation.
In the cow, embryo attachment occurs 17 to 18 days after fertilization, by which time the trophoblast has elongated to several centimeters (
Animals
Immunofluorescence
Western Blot Analysis
Ductin Expression in Nonpregnant and Pregnant Animals
By Day 24 there was extensive remodeling of the luminal epithelium and trophectoderm as embryo development and attachment accelerated. At this stage, expression of ductin in the epithelium was essentially pericellular (Figure 1F), whereas the distribution in glandular epithelium continued to remain primarily apical (Figure 1E). In the developing trophoblast, ductin expression at Day 18 was evident throughout trophoblast cells proximal to the uterine epithelium (Figure 1B and Figure 1C) and continued to persist at Day 24, primarily at the interface with luminal epithelium (Figure 1E and Figure 1F). In all analyses, adjacent sections incubated with control preimmune serum or chicken IgG served as negative controls and permitted background levels of fluoresence to be subtracted from the images. No fluorescence was detectable at the levels used to take the positive images.
Expression of V-ATPase Subunit A in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Animals
Within the trophoblast this subunit was visible throughout cells proximal to the uterine epithelium at Day 18 (Figure 2C) but by Day 24 had become diffuse, and was no longer prevalent at points of contact with endometrium (Figure 2E and Figure 2F).
Expression of V-ATPase Subunit B in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Animals
Specificity of Antibodies to Subunits A and B
Although the anti-ductin antibody used here does not recognize denatured proteins on Western blots, for several reasons we have no doubts about its specificity. First, ELISA data provided by Alpha Diagnostics confirmed "excellent" affinity for the peptide antigen. Second, antibodies raised against the same rodent-derived peptide specifically detect human ductin (e.g.,
Our study reveals that all V-ATPase subunits examined undergo a loss of preferential expression on the apical surface of luminal epithelium in response to pregnancy, suggesting that in these cells there is a shift in polarization of V-ATPase activity. The apical distribution of the V-ATPase pump seen in the luminal and glandular epithelium of the nonpregnant animal suggests that hydrogen ions are being pumped into the uterine lumen and into the lumen of the glands. After embryo attachment, this loss of polarity may reflect the requirement to reduce acidification of the fetal environment and allow clearance of H+ ions by the maternal blood supply. This shift could be important for reduction of surface charge on the luminal epithelium. The net negative charge on the epithelium has been proposed to be an electrostatic barrier to implantation (
The redistribution of the V-ATPase pump could also be indicative of transcytosis of receptor-ligand complexes or embryo-derived molecules from apical to basal surfaces, because V-ATPases are required for pH regulation in vesicles involved in this process ( Trophoblast cells also expressed all three subunits of the V-ATPase pump, with staining most evident in proximity to the endometrium. Although we can only speculate, it is possible that V-ATPase activity at those contact points may reflect the need for some localized hydrolysis of matrix components to allow attachment, in a manner analogous to the role of V-ATPase in macrophages and osteoclasts. By Day 24, the trophoblast and endometrium were both becoming remodeled, and precise estimation of co-localization between the trophectoderm and epithelium became more difficult.
There is a growing body of literature to suggest that ductin, either as part of the V-ATPase complex or on its own as a gap junction, has additional roles in mediating cell interactions and cell growth. Evidence for roles in growth control include the observation that the PDGF-ß receptor ( One aspect unique to ductin is its developmental regulation in the stroma. Expression is highest at Day 18 of pregnancy, drops before Day 21, and is restored by Day 24. Implantation begins at approximately Day 18 in the bovine, suggesting that ductin could play a role in cellcell communication events important for implantation, but that this communication is then suppressed during a critical 56-day window when first embryo/maternal contacts are being strengthened. Little is known about the signals that pass through ductin gap junctions and whether those signals are different from those communicated via connexins, but some unique role for ductin in implantation appears likely. Interestingly, the downregulation of ductin expression in the stroma at Day 21 parallels the pattern seen with ß1 integrin (unpublished observations), a cell matrix receptor that affects many signaling pathways. The pregnancy-related developmental regulation of V-ATPase subunits suggests that hydrogen ion movement and resulting pH regulation play important roles in early stages of placentation. The complex roles of the 16-kD subunit of this enzyme, ductin, raise many interesting questions about the significance of its unique pregnancy-related changes in expression to ruminant implantation.
We thank Ms Penny Gavin, Sarah Kimmins, and Dr Hai-Choo Smith for technical support in collecting uterine samples and preparing cryosections, and Dr Melissa Farquhar for technical support and advice with confocal microscopy. We also thank the staff at Brookside Abbattoir and HUB Meat Packers, Ltd., for their cooperation during tract collection. We also acknowledge the generous donation of polyclonal antibodies from Stephen L. Gluck, L. Shannon Holliday, and Shoji Ohkuma, and the donation of Lutalyse from PharmaciaUpJohn. Chris Haworth and co-workers in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Guelph provided bovine kidney. Keith Betteridge provided valuable inputs to the discussion. Received for publication December 28, 1998; accepted April 27, 1999.
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