The aim of the present study was to determine the role of GDF-9 and/or FSH on the growth and mRNA expression for FSH-R, GDF-9, and BMPs in goat secondary follicles after culture in vitro. Goat secondary follicles (~200µm) were isolated and cultured for six days in minimum essential medium (MEM) supplemented with GDF-9 (200 ng/mL), FSH (50 ng/mL) or both. At the beginning and end of culture, the follicular diameter was evaluated and compared. The levels of mRNA for GDF-9, FSH-R and BMPs -2, -4, -6, -7 and -15 in cultured follicles were quantified by real time PCR. The results showed that a significant increase of follicle diameter after six days when compared to day 0, but the presence of GDF-9 and FSH did not influence the follicular growth in comparison with those cultured in MEM. Real time PCR showed that GDF-9 down-regulated the levels of mRNA for BMPs -2 and -15, while FSH either alone or in combination with GDF-9 did not affect the expression of GDF-9, FSH-R and BMPs. In conclusion, GDF-9 reduced the expression of BMP-2 and -15 in caprine preantral follicles after their culture, but FSH either alone or in association with GDF-9 did not control the expression of GDF-9, FSH-R and BMPs.

The aim of this review was to evaluate the importance of the real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) as a technique for mRNA expression analysis in different tissues. Real-time PCR is widely used for quantification of mRNA levels and is a fundamental tool for basic research, molecular medicine and biotechnology.Genes of references are expressed in a wide variety of tissues and cells with minimal variations in their expression levels, and thus are used to normalize data of mRNA quantification. Software programs, such as geNorm, BestKeeper and NormFinder, have been developed to perform the normalization of data, which help to choose the most stable reference gene. Several genes, such as GAPDH, β-actin, β-tubulin, PGK, UBQ, RPL-19 and 18S rRNA have been suggested as standards in PCR studies, but these genes can have variation in their expression in different tissues, reinforcing the idea that there is no ideal reference gene.

Este estudo investigou os níveis de ácidos ribonucleicos (RNAm) para a subunidade ßA da inibina em folículos primordiais, primários e secundários caprinos, bem como em complexos cumulus-oócitos (CCOs) e células da granulosa mural/teca de folículos antrais. Além disso, avaliaram-se os efeitos da ativina-A (100ng mL-1) e/ou hormônio folículo estimulante (FSH, 50ng mL-1) sobre o crescimento e a expressão do RNAm para inibina-ßA e receptores de FSH (FSH-R) em folículos secundários cultivados por seis dias. Os dados mostraram que a expressão de inibina-ßA é menor em folículos secundários do que em folículos primários e é maior em grandes folículos antrais que nos pequenos folículos antrais. Após o cultivo, ativina-A e/ou FSH promoveram o crescimento de folículos secundários. Enquanto o FSH aumentou os níveis de RNAm para inibina-ßA, a ativina-A aumentou os níveis de RNAm para FSH-R. Em conclusão, a inibina-ßA é expressa em diferentes níveis em folículos pré-antrais e antrais e a ativina-A atua como um estimulador da expressão de FSH-R em folículos caprinos. Por sua vez, a expressão de inibina-ßA é estimulada pelo FSH, que, juntamente com ativina, promove o crescimento de folículos secundários in vitro.

This study investigated the levels of messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNA) for inhibin-ßA subunit in goat primordial, primary and secondary follicles, as well as in cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) and mural granulosa / theca cells of antral follicles. The effects of activin-A (100ng mL-1) and/or follicle stimulating hormone (FSH, 50ng mL-1) on growth and expression of mRNA for activin-A and FSH receptor (FSH-R) in secondary follicles cultured for six days were evaluated. The data showed that the expression of inhibin-ßA is lower in secondary follicles than in primary follicles and is higher in large antral follicles than in small antral follicles. After culture, activin-A and/or FSH promoted growth of secondary follicles, while FSH increased the levels of mRNA for inhibin-ßA, and activin-A increased the levels of FSH-R mRNA. In conclusion, mRNA for inhibin-ßA is expressed at different levels in pre-antral and antral follicles and activin-A acts as a stimulator of the FSH-R expression in goat follicles. On its turn, the expression of inhibin-ßA is stimulated by FSH, which together with activin-A promotes secondary follicle growth in-vitro.