LE3 .A278 2006

2006

Wilson, Brian

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

Recent immunohistochemical evidence suggests that relaxin-3 (RLX3) and one of its receptors (GPCR135) are expressed in the ovary of the killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus. However, nothing is known about the role of RLX3 in teleost fish. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential effect of RLX3 on 17- estradiol synthesis in killifish ovarian follicles. Follicles were extracted from the ovaries of thirteen female killifish and separated into three developmental stages: vitellogenic, early-maturing and late-maturing. These follicles were then incubated for 24 hours in medium-199 under five culturing conditions: a treatment with no hormones (negative control), a human chorionic gonadotropin treatment (positive control), and three treatments of human RLX3 at 1x10-9 M, 1x10-8 M, and 1x10-7 M. The concentration of 17-estradiol in the culture supernatant was then measured with an enzyme immunoassay using a polyclonal estradiol antiserum. Although 17-estradiol concentrations were elevated in early-maturing follicles treated with RLX3, this effect was found to be non-significant upon statistical examination (P>0.05). The observed elevation in 17-estradiol concentrations in early maturing follicles parallels the immunohistochemical staining for RLX3 and GPCR135 observed mainly in follicles of mid to late developmental stages.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:487