Advisor: Mihaela Pavlicev

Master's Defensio: Thursday, August 31st 2021, 11:00 am, 
UBB, Seminarraum 5.1 & and online via zoom

Abstract

Aging impacts pregnancy progression and gestational length, leading to complications during parturition, such as dystocia. These phenotypes may arise due to the ovarian senescence, as well as the senescence of the uterine and cervical tissues. Here we investigate the age-related changes in the uterus and cervix that influence timing of parturition with in-depth transcriptional and histological techniques. We compare 3- and 8-months old mice, at 15.5 dpc and 17.5 dpc. Most structural variation in utero-placental unit and cervix are accounted for by the progression of pregnancy, while differences in collagen density in cervical stroma is best accounted for by aging. Moreover, glycogen level in placentas exhibit age-specific patterns, with young mice displaying higher levels of glycogen at 15.7 dpc, which decrease until the later time point of gestation. In contrast, old mice exhibit low glycogen levels already at the earlier time point. Analysis of differentially expressed uterine genes reveals distinct patterns between age-groups. From 15.5 dpc to 17.5 dpc, young mice show upregulation in uterus of genes involved in cell respiration processes, whereas old mice display upregulation of genes associated with hormone metabolism. Both age groups exhibit downregulation of genes involved in cell adhesion and immune response at 17.5 dpc. We also found gene families (Psg, Ceacam and Prl) with contrasting patterns of expression: upregulated in young and downregulated in old mice at 17.5 dpc. With this study we contribute to the understanding of the effects of aging in the complex regulatory mechanisms of initiation of parturition in mice.