Assessment of zona pellucida glycoprotein and integrin transcript contents in porcine oocytes

SUMMARYUsing reverse transcription and real-time quantitative PCR analysis we evaluated the transcript levels of integrins (αL, αM, β1, and β6), CD9 and CD18 antigens as well as zona pellucida glycoproteins (pZP1, pZP2, pZP3 and pZP3α) in oocytes isolated from puberal gilts (n=20) and multiparous sows (n=20). We found significantly (p< 0.05) higher transcript contents of αL, αM, β1, and β6 integrins, CD9 antigen, and pZP2 and pZP3 in puberal gilt oocytes compared to multiparous sow oocytes. Our results suggest that a decrease in the level of oocyte transcripts encoding essential proteins involved in oocyte fertilization may be associated with increased porcine female age.