Abstract
The oviduct play a crucial role in reproductive process, through facilitating successful embryo growth and conception. Oviduct activity is orchestrated by various factors, depending on cyclic dynamics, which crucially affect the success of reproductive function. The morphological modifications of oviducts in response to the female reproductive cycle are well established. However, detailed characterization at the molecular level is still needed. The present study, employed primary in vitro cell cultures and high-throughput transcriptome analysis via an Affymetrix microarray approach, described nucleotide, ribonucleotide and ribonucleoside binding patterns at a molecular level in oviduct epithelial cells (OECs). 222 genes were targeted belonging to four gene ontology biological process terms (GO BP): “adenyl nucleotide binding”, “adenyl ribonucleotide binding”, “ribonucleotide binding”, “ribonucleoside binding”, which showed the greatest variability in the level of mRNA expression during of long-term cultivation. In this group of genes, special attention was paid to those showing the greatest variability in relation to the reference measurement, including OASL, PIM1, ACTA2 and ABCA1.
Running title: Oviductal nucleotide and nucleoside binding patterns