Nirmali W K Ramesha, Warnakula Lakshan, Cooray Ruwini, Hapuarachchi Nimanie Sachithra, Magamage Manjula P S
Laboratory of Reproductive Biology and Animal Biotechnology, Department of Livestock Production, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Belihuloya, Sri Lanka.
Section of Genetics, Institute for Research and Development, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Vet World. 2019 Jul;12(7):994-997. doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.994-997. Epub 2019 Jul 8.
Estrogen activity, a central component of reproductive growth, is regulated by the receptor proteins, estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), and ER beta (ERβ) in chickens as in many other species. ERα expresses predominantly in gonads. Although the expression of ERα in embryonic gonads has been studied in detail, the expression of ERα in post-hatching male gonads has not been studied adequately. Therefore, the current research was conducted to determine the post-hatching changes in the expression of ERα in the left gonads of male chickens with age.
Shaver Brown male chickens were raised and cared for according to the management guide and sacrificed at the intervals of 1, 4, and 8 weeks of age. The total RNA was extracted from the left gonads using the Trizol method and reverse transcribed using a pair of gene-specific primers. Following polymerase chain reaction amplification, the expression of ERα was quantified relative to the expression of the reference gene GAPDH.
The results showed that ERα expression significantly increases with age at p=0.0032. However, the increment of ERα expression from week 1 to week 4 was 2.04-fold and from week 4 to week 8 was 1.39-fold, with the later age reflecting a diminishing pattern in the increment.
These results differentiate the post-hatching ERα expression of the left gonads of male chickens increase with age but with a diminishing gradient that may support their reproductive functions in later stages of life.
雌激素活性是生殖生长的核心组成部分，与许多其他物种一样，鸡体内的雌激素活性受雌激素受体α（ERα）和雌激素受体β（ERβ）这两种受体蛋白调节。ERα主要在性腺中表达。虽然已对胚胎性腺中ERα的表达进行了详细研究，但对孵化后雄性性腺中ERα的表达尚未进行充分研究。因此，开展本研究以确定雄性雏鸡左侧性腺中ERα表达随年龄的孵化后变化情况。
按照管理指南饲养和照料沙维褐壳雄性雏鸡，并在1周龄、4周龄和8周龄时宰杀。使用Trizol法从左侧性腺中提取总RNA，并使用一对基因特异性引物进行反转录。经过聚合酶链反应扩增后，相对于参照基因GAPDH的表达对ERα的表达进行定量分析。
结果显示，ERα表达随年龄显著增加（p = 0.0032）。然而，ERα表达从第1周龄到第4周龄增加了2.04倍，从第4周龄到第8周龄增加了1.39倍，随着年龄增长，增加幅度呈递减趋势。
这些结果表明，雄性雏鸡左侧性腺孵化后ERα表达随年龄增加，但梯度递减，这可能有助于其在生命后期的生殖功能。
