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Effect of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on transcription factor regulation in the bovine endometrium

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Abstract

Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) supplementation is postulated to have positive effects on fertility. The impact of dietary n-3 PUFA supplementation on physiological and biochemical processes involved in reproduction is likely to be associated with significant alterations in gene expression in key reproductive tissues which is in turn regulated by transcription factors. Beef heifers were supplemented with a rumen protected source of either a saturated fatty acid or high n-3 PUFA diet per animal per day for 45 days and uterine endometrial tissue was harvested post slaughter. A microarray analysis was conducted and bioinformatic tools were employed to evaluate the effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on gene expression in the bovine endometrium. Clustering of microarray gene expression data was performed to identify co-expressed genes. Functional annotation of each cluster of genes was carried out using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Furthermore, oPOSSUM was employed to identify transcription factors involved in gene expression changes due to supplementary PUFA. Gene functions which showed a significant response to n-3 PUFA supplementation included tissue development, immune function and reproductive function. Numerous transcription factors such as FOXD1, FOXD3, NFKB1, ESR1, PGR, FOXA2, NKX3-1 and PPARα were identified as potential regulators of gene expression in the endometrium of cattle supplemented with n-3 PUFA. This study demonstrates the complex nature of the alterations in the transcriptional regulation process in the uterine endometrium of cattle following dietary supplementation which may positively influence the uterine environment.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Irish Dept. of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (RSF 06-412). We thank the farm staff at the Teagasc Athenry Research Centre for their care of the experimental animals. Advice from Drs. Chris Creevey on the use of the bioinformatic tools employed is greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal and Bioscience Research Department, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Grange, Dunsany, Co. Meath, Ireland

    Sinéad M. Waters, Gerard S. Coyne & David A. Kenny

  2. School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Gerard S. Coyne

  3. Animal and Bioscience Research Department, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Mellows Campus, Athenry, Co. Galway, Ireland

    Dermot G. Morris

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  1. Sinéad M. Waters
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  2. Gerard S. Coyne
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  4. Dermot G. Morris
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Correspondence to Sinéad M. Waters.

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Fig. S1

Heatmap and dendogram of clusters following clustering using the ‘pumaclust’ algorithm showing partitioning of clusters among control (C) and n-3 PUFA (T) supplemented animals. Clusters are labelled 1–7. Supplementary material 1 (TIFF 24 kb)

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Waters, S.M., Coyne, G.S., Kenny, D.A. et al. Effect of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on transcription factor regulation in the bovine endometrium. Mol Biol Rep 41, 2745–2755 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-014-3129-2

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