The First School of Clinical Medicine of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
The Reproductive Medicine Special Hospital of the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.
Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2021 May;303(5):1363-1369. doi: 10.1007/s00404-020-05895-7. Epub 2020 Nov 22.
N6-methyladenosine (mA) and demethylase fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) were reported to be associated with oocyte development and maturation. But the relationship between FTO and ovarian aging was still unclear. This study was aimed at investigating the FTO expression level and the mA content during ovarian aging.
The expression level of FTO and the content of mA RNA methylation in human follicular fluid (FF), granulosa cells (GCs) and mouse ovary from different age groups were studied by ELISA, WB, qRT-PCR, IHC and mA Colorimetric.
Human FF ELISA quantified that the level of FTO protein decreased with age (P = 0.025). QRT-PCR results showed that the relative expression of FTO in human GCs was lower in the elderly group than in the young group (P = 0.012). FTO mRNA and protein expression levels were lower in the ovary of 32-week-old mice than in 3- and 8-week-old mice (P < 0.05). Immunohistochemistry showed FTO was relatively decreased in 32-week-old mice (P < 0.05). The mA content in total RNA from old human GCs and ovary from 32-week-old mice was significantly higher compared with the younger ones.
In human FF, GCs and mouse ovary, the expression of FTO decreased while the content of mA increased with aging. However, the inner mechanism still needs further investigation.
N6-甲基腺苷（mA）和去甲基酶脂肪量和肥胖相关蛋白（FTO）被报道与卵母细胞的发育和成熟有关。但是 FTO 与卵巢衰老之间的关系尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨 FTO 表达水平和 mA 含量在卵巢衰老过程中的变化。
通过 ELISA、WB、qRT-PCR、免疫组化和 mA 比色法研究了不同年龄组人卵泡液（FF）、颗粒细胞（GC）和小鼠卵巢中 FTO 的表达水平和 mA RNA 甲基化含量。
人 FF ELISA 定量分析表明 FTO 蛋白水平随年龄增长而降低（P=0.025）。qRT-PCR 结果显示，老年组人 GC 中 FTO 的相对表达低于年轻组（P=0.012）。32 周龄小鼠卵巢中 FTO mRNA 和蛋白表达水平低于 3 周龄和 8 周龄小鼠（P<0.05）。免疫组化显示 32 周龄小鼠 FTO 相对减少（P<0.05）。与年轻组相比，老年组人 GC 和 32 周龄小鼠卵巢总 RNA 中的 mA 含量显著升高。
在人 FF、GC 和小鼠卵巢中，随着年龄的增长，FTO 的表达降低，而 mA 的含量增加。然而，其内在机制仍需要进一步研究。
