Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
Functional Genetics and Development Division, The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian, UK.
Mol Reprod Dev. 2023 Jul;90(7):684-696. doi: 10.1002/mrd.23573. Epub 2022 Apr 25.
Across mammalian species, it has been demonstrated that sex influences birth weight, with males being heavier than females; a characteristic that can be observed from early gestation. Male piglets are more likely to be stillborn and have greater preweaning mortality than their female littermates, despite the additional maternal investment into male fetal growth. Given the conserved nature of the genome between the sexes, it is hypothesized that these developmental differences between males and females are most likely orchestrated by differential placental adaptation. This review summarizes the current understanding of fetal sex-specific differences in placental and endometrial structure and function, with an emphasis on pathways found to be differentially regulated in the pig including angiogenesis, apoptosis, and proliferation. Given the importance of piglet sex in agricultural enterprises, and the potential for skewed litter sex ratios, it is imperative to improve understanding of the relationship between fetal sex and molecular signaling in both the placenta and endometria across gestation.
在哺乳动物物种中，已经证明性别会影响出生体重，雄性比雌性更重；这一特征从早期妊娠就可以观察到。尽管母体对雄性胎儿的生长有更多的投入，但雄性仔猪比其雌性同窝仔更容易死产，并具有更高的断奶前死亡率。鉴于性别之间基因组的保守性，据推测，这些雄性和雌性之间的发育差异很可能是由胎盘的差异适应性来调节的。这篇综述总结了目前对胎盘和子宫内膜结构和功能中胎儿性别特异性差异的理解，重点介绍了在猪中发现的差异调节途径，包括血管生成、细胞凋亡和增殖。鉴于仔猪性别的重要性在农业企业中，以及仔猪性别比例偏差的可能性，迫切需要提高对整个妊娠期间胎盘和子宫内膜中胎儿性别与分子信号之间关系的理解。
