Celiac ganglion presents progesterone receptors at late pregnancy

GHERSA F; VALLCANERAS S; BURDISSO J; FUENTES F; RODRIGUEZ G; CASAIS M

Congreso; Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo XXXII Reunión Científica Anual. San Luis; 2014

CELIAC GANGLION PRESENTS PROGESTERONE RECEPTORS AT LATE PREGNANCY Ghersa Fa, Vallcaneras Sa, Burdisso Jb, Fuentes Fb, Rodriguez Ga, Casais Ma. aLab. Biol. Reprod (LABIR), FQByF?UNSL,IMIBIO-SL, CONICET, San Luis. bCentro de Microscopías Avanzadas, FCEyN, UBA federicaghersa@gmail.com The addition of progesterone (P4), a luteotrophic hormone, to celiac ganglion (CG) stimulates ovarian P4 release through superior ovarian nerve (SON) at the end of pregnancy in the rat. The object of this study is to investigate if such effect may be associated to the presence of P4 receptor (PR) in CG. Female Holtzman rats at 21 days of pregnancy were used. The CG was removed and fixed in Bouin?s fluid. The tissue was dehydrated in a graded series of ethanol, cleared in xylene and embedded in paraffin. Serial sections were cut at 5µm and mounted. Tissue sections were deparaffinized with xylene and hydrated through decreasing concentrations of ethanol. Tissue was rinsed with PBS and then incubated in Na-citrate buffer at 97°C for 40min. Nonspecific binding sites were blocked by incubation for 1 hour with 5% bovine serum albumin. Sections were then incubated overnight in a humidified chamber at 4 °C with antibodies against PR (H-190: sc-7208, Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc) and β III-tubulin (Covance). After three washes in PBS, the samples were incubated with the secondary antibodies (Alexa 488-conjugated IgG and Alexa 555-conjugated IgG; Invitrogen) for 1 h at room temperature. After washing, the samples were mounted with FluorSave (Calbiochem). Images were taken with an Olympus FV-1000 confocal microscope. The immunohistochemical analysis showed positive immunoreactivity for the PR in neuronal somas and axons of the CG. In conclusion, P4 would promote the corpus luteum protection from regression through the peripheral neural pathway by impacting on PR in CG.