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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Establishing 3D Endometrial Organoids from the Mouse Uterus
Published on: January 6, 2023
Pig conceptuses secrete estrogen and interferons to differentially regulate uterine STAT1 in a temporal and cell
Margaret M Joyce1, Robert C Burghardt, Rodney D Geisert
1Center for Animal Biotechnology and Genomics, Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
Abstract:
Conceptus trophectoderm and uterine luminal epithelial cells interact via endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine modulators to mediate pregnancy recognition and implantation. Pig conceptuses not only release estrogens for pregnancy recognition but also secrete interferons during implantation. Because interferon-stimulated genes are increased by interferons secreted for pregnancy recognition in ruminants, we asked whether the interferon-stimulated gene, STAT1, is up-regulated in pig endometrium by conceptus estrogens and/or interferons. STAT1 expression in response to day of pregnancy, estrogen injection, and intrauterine infusion of conceptus secretory proteins in pigs indicated 1) estrogen increases STAT1 in luminal epithelial cells, 2) conceptus secretory proteins that contain interferons increase STAT1 in stroma, 3) STAT1 increases in close proximity to the conceptus, and 4) early estrogen results in conceptus death and no STAT1 in stroma. The interactions of estrogen and interferons to regulate cell-type-specific expression of STAT1 highlight the complex interplay between endometrium and conceptus for pregnancy recognition and implantation.
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