Expression and functional role of IGFs during early pregnancy in placenta of water buffalo

Adequate vascularisation is a key factor for successful fetal development. We hypothesized that Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF) family members regulate angiogenesis along with promoting fetal development and growth. In this experiment, we determined the expression and functional role of IGF family in placental compartments (caruncle; CAR, cotyledon; COT) during different stages of early pregnancy in the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Samples were collected from early pregnancy 1 (EP1, 28–45 days), early pregnancy 2 (EP2, 45–90 days), and third stage of estrous cycle (11–16 days), which was taken as control. In addition, the role of IGF1 on mRNA expression of vWF, StAR, CYP11A1, 3βHSD, PCNA, and BAX were elucidated in cultured trophoblast cells (TCC) obtained from EP2. Quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR), westernblot, and immunohistochemistry were done to investigate the gene expression, protein expression, and localization of examined factors, and RIA was also done to assess progesterone (P4) concentration. Expression of IGFs, its receptors and binding proteins were found to be significantly higher (p