Fibrillins and latent TGFβ binding proteins in bovine ovaries of offspring following high or low protein diets during pregnancy of dams

The microsatellite D19S884, located in intron 55 of fibrillin-3 (FBN3) gene, associates with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in familial studies. The family of fibrillin proteins (FBN1-3), which includes latent TGF-β binding proteins (LTBP-1 to -4), are extracellular matrix proteins. We localized and examined the expression of these proteins in the adult bovine ovaries (n = 7–10 per group, average age 681 days) born to mothers fed high (13% protein per total dry weight) or a low protein diet (5%) in each of the first and second trimesters of pregnancy (n = 4 groups). FBN1 and LTBP-1 and -2 were the major members expressed in the mature ovary. Each protein had a unique localization pattern but all were associated with stromal tissue including the tunica albuginea (FBN1 and LTBP-2 near surface, and FBN1 and LTBP-1 deeper in the tunica), cortical stroma (FBN1 and LTBP-1) and follicular thecal layers (FBN1 in theca interna, LTBP-1 in the inner regions of the theca externa, and LTBP-2 in the outer regions of the theca externa). No significant (P > 0.05) effects of maternal diet were observed on either the localization or the levels of mRNA of any of these proteins in the tunica. Expression levels of all three FBNs were positively correlated with each other, and FBN1 and 2 were positively correlated with LTBP-2, suggesting some level of co-ordinate regulation. This is the first study to investigate the expression and localization of these genes affecting TGFβ bioavailability in the ovary.