Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Feb 28:2020:5403904.
doi: 10.1155/2020/5403904. eCollection 2020.

Involvement of GJA1 and Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication between Cumulus Cells and Oocytes from Women with PCOS

Qiwei Liu  1 , Liang Kong  1 , Junhui Zhang  2 , Qian Xu  1 , Jingxue Wang  1 , Zhigang Xue  3 , Jinjuan Wang  1
Affiliations

Involvement of GJA1 and Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication between Cumulus Cells and Oocytes from Women with PCOS

Qiwei Liu et al. Biomed Res Int. .

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common female endocrine system disease that affects 17.8% of women of reproductive age and leads to infertility, obesity, glucose metabolic disorders, cardiovascular disease, and body-mind problems. However, the etiology of PCOS remains unclear. Follicular growth is disrupted as a result of ovarian hyperandrogenism and distorted intraovarian paracrine signaling in women with PCOS. Microcommunication between oocytes and cumulus cells plays a critical role in folliculogenesis. Gap junction alpha 1 (GJA1) plays a crucial role in the developing follicles by forming communication channels between cumulus cells and oocytes, but this has not yet been reported in women with PCOS. Therefore, we aimed to study the role of GJA1 in the microcommunication between oocytes and cumulus cells in women with PCOS. In our study, cumulus cell-oocyte complexes (COCs) from women were isolated via ultrasound-guided vaginal puncture, and oocytes were selected from COCs and categorized based on 3 oocyte maturation stages. Then, RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence analysis were performed to detect both the gene expression and protein of GJA1 in oocytes from women with and without PCOS. There was no statistically significant difference in age and BMI (body mass index), but patients with PCOS had a higher ratio of basic LH/FSH (luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone), androstenedione, and total ovarian volume. The qRT-PCR results showed higher gene expression of GJA1 in oocytes without PCOS at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage compared with that of oocytes from women with PCOS. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that the expression level of GJA1 in oocytes from women with PCOS was very weak compared with that of oocytes from women without PCOS. In conclusion, GJA1 may play a critical role in the development of oogenesis arrest in women with PCOS throughout the oogenesis processes, including oogenesis and oocyte maturation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differentially expressed genes in oocytes from PCOS compared with oocyte from non-PCOS by RT-PCR. N-GV: gene expression levels in oocyte at GV stage from normal women; P-GV: gene expression levels in oocyte at GV stage from PCOS women; N-MI: gene expression levels in oocyte at MI stage from normal women; P-MI: gene expression levels in oocyte at MI stage from PCOS women; N-MII: gene expression levels in oocyte at MII stage from normal women; P-MII: gene expression levels in oocyte at MII stage from PCOS women. ∗P value < 0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Immunofluorescence staining for detecting the expression pattern of GJA1 in human oocyte with and without PCOS at GV stage. (a–c) Oocyte from women without PCOS. (d–f) Oocyte from PCOS women. Oocytes were counterstained with the cytoskeleton (green) and nuclei (DAPI, blue). Bar = 50 μm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Stein I. F., Leventhal M. L. Amenorrhea associated with bilateral polycystic ovaries. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 1935;29(2):181–191. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9378(15)30642-6. - DOI
    1. Hosseinkhani A., Asadi N., Pasalar M., Zarshenas M. M. Traditional Persian medicine and management of metabolic dysfunction in polycystic ovary syndrome. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine. 2018;8(1):17–23. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2017.04.006. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Branavan U., Muneeswaran K., Wijesundera W. S. S., Senanayake A., Chandrasekharan N. V., Wijeyaratne C. N. Association of Kiss1 and GPR54 gene polymorphisms with polycystic ovary syndrome among Sri Lankan women. BioMed Research International. 2019;2019 doi: 10.1155/2019/6235680.6235680 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Çetin M., Tunçdemir P., Karaman K., et al. Cardiovascular evaluation and serum paraoxonase-1 levels in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2019;40(1):90–95. doi: 10.1080/01443615.2019.1604643. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moore A. M., Campbell R. E. Polycystic ovary syndrome: understanding the role of the brain. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. 2017;46:1–14. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2017.05.002. - DOI - PubMed

Substances