• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 2023

The follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) is a glycoprotein hormone, that belongs to the GPCR superfamily. FSHR plays a major role in reproduction. The aberrant activation of FHS receptor leads to infertility and several reproductive disorders. The recently recognized roles of the FSHR in diverse extragonadal tissues is also closely related to Alzheimer's disease and cancers. Analysing the structural characteristics of the receptor is important in understanding the pathophysiology of diseases associated with the receptor. In this present study, homology modelling of FSHR-TM domain was developed using four different templates. Totally 20 models were developed using single template-based approach and selected three based on the validation of RC plot, RMSD, ProSA, QMEAN and ERRAT values. The developed models would be useful for further research on the structural characteristics and binding characteristics of the FSHR-TM domain.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.143-153
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• 2018

The large extracellular domain of glycoprotein hormone receptors is a unique feature within the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) family. After interaction with the hormone, the receptor becomes coupled to Gs, which, in turn stimulates adenylyl cyclase and the production of cAMP. Potential phosphorylation sites exist in the C-terminal region of GPCRs. The experiments described herein represent attempts to determine the functions of the eel follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (eelFSHR). We constructed a mutant of eelFSHR, in which the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail was truncated at residue 614 (eelFSHR-t614). The eelFSHR-t614 lacked all potential phosphorylation sites present in the C-terminal region of eelFSHR. In order to obtain the eelFSHR ligand, we produced recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone ($rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$) in the CHO-suspension cells. The expression level was 2-3 times higher than that of the transient expression of eelFSH in attached CHO-K1 cells. The molecular weight of the $rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ protein was identified to be approximately 34 kDa. The cells expressing eelFSHR-t614 showed an increase in agonist-induced cAMP responsiveness. The maximal cAMP responses of cells expressing eelFSHR-t614 were lower than those of cells expressing eelFSHR-wild type (eelFSHR-WT). The $EC_{50}$ following C-terminal deletion in CHO-K1 cells was approximately 60.4% of that of eelFSHR-WT. The maximal response in eelFSHR-t614 cells was also drastically lower than that of eelFSHR-WT. We also found similar results in PathHunter Parental cells expressing ${\beta}$-arrestin. Thus, these data provide evidence that the truncation of the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail phosphorylation sites in the eelFSHR greatly decreased cAMP responsiveness and maximal response in both CHO-K1 cells and Path-Hunter Parental cells expressing ${\beta}$-arrestin.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2000

This study was investigated to analyze the inactivating point mutation and expression level of follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH) receptor mRNA. In first experiment, we analyzed the point mutation. Peripheral blood was collected from each patient. To screen individuals for the C566T mutation, PCR was performed for exon 7 of the FSH receptor gene in 10 patients. No inactivating point mutation of FSH receptor gene was identified in women with premature ovarian failure. To analyze the expression level of FSH receptor, mRNA expressions were examined by RT-PCR method using specific primers for the FSH receptor. The amount of FSH receptor mRNA expressed in POF patients was lower than that in the control group. But it was not significantly different. These finding suggests that lower expression of FSH receptor in premature ovarian failure patients might be the cause of the low response to the gonadotropin during the hyperstimulation in IVF-ET cycles.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.399-409
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• 2022

Objective: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is the central hormone involved in mammalian reproduction, maturation at puberty, and gamete production that mediates its function by control of follicle growth and function. The present study investigated the mutations involved in the regulation of FSH receptor (FSHR) activation. Methods: We analyzed seven naturally-occurring mutations that were previously reported in human FSHR (hFSHR), in the context of equine FSHR (eFSHR); these include one constitutively activation variant, one allelic variant, and five inactivating variants. These mutations were introduced into wild-type eFSHR (eFSHR-wt) sequence to generate mutants that were designated as eFSHR-D566G, -A306T, -A189V, -N191I, -R572C, -A574V, and -R633H. Mutants were transfected into PathHunter EA-parental CHO-K1 cells expressing β-arrestin. The biological function of mutants was analyzed by quantitating cAMP accumulation in cells incubated with increasing concentrations of FSH. Results: Cells expressing eFSHR-D566G exhibited an 8.6-fold increase in basal cAMP response, as compared to that in eFSHR-wt. The allelic variation mutant eFSHR-A306T was not found to affect the basal cAMP response or half maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀) levels. On the other hand, eFSHR-D566G and eFSHR-A306T displayed a 1.5- and 1.4-fold increase in the maximal response, respectively. Signal transduction was found to be completely impaired in case of the inactivating mutants eFSHR-A189V, -R572C, and -A574V. When compared with eFSHR-wt, eFSHR-N191I displayed a 5.4-fold decrease in the EC₅₀ levels (3,910 ng/mL) and a 2.3-fold decrease in the maximal response. In contrast, cells expressing eFSHR-R633H displayed in a similar manner to that of the cells expressing the eFSHR-wt on signal transduction and maximal response. Conclusion: The activating mutant eFSHR-D566G greatly enhanced the signal transduction in response to FSH, in the absence of agonist treatment. We suggest that the state of activation of the eFSHR can modulate its basal cAMP accumulation.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.281-286
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• 1998

Premature ovarian failure is a condition causing amenorrhea, hypoestrogenism, and elevated gonadotropins in women younger than 40 years. Many causes of premature ovarian failure were reported, including genetic abnormalities, enzymatic defects, defects in gonadotropin secretion or action, autoimmune disorders, physical and idiopathic causes. Recently, Finnish group reported a point mutation in the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) receptor gene in premature ovarian failure patients. But it was reported that the group from United States could not find any mutation in FSH receptor gene. So we analysed C566T point mutation of FSH receptor gene using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and compared the result between premature ovarian failure patient with idiopathic and known causes. But we did not find 556C${\rightarrow}$T mutation in the FSH receptor gene in both groups. These findings suggest that the missense mutation in the human FSH receptor gene reported in Finnish women with premature ovarian failure is uncommon in Korean women with premature ovarian failure.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.207-212
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• 2020

Objective: Glutamate ionotropic receptor AMPA type subunit 1 (GRIA1) is a subunit of a ligand-gated ion channel that regulates the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) by controlling the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone. Few studies have investigated the association between the GRIA1 gene and human infertility. This study evaluated the association of the GRIA1 rs548294 C > T and rs2195450 G > A polymorphisms with the ovarian response to human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) in Iranian women. Methods: One hundred women with histories of at least 1 year of infertility were included. On the second day of menstruation, patients were injected with HMG; on the third day, blood samples were collected. After hormonal analysis, the GRIA1 rs548294 C > T and rs2195450 G > A genotypes of samples were identified via the restriction fragment length polymorphism method, and on day 9, the number of follicles was assessed via ultrasound. Results: For the GRIA1 rs548294 C > T and rs2195450 G > A single nucleotide polymorphisms, the subjects with CT and GG genotypes, respectively, displayed the highest mean FSH level, LH level, and number of follicles on day 9 of the menstrual cycle (p< 0.05). Significant positive correlations were observed between LH and FSH (p< 0.01), LH and follicle count (p< 0.01), FSH and age (p< 0.05), follicle count and age (p= 0.048), and FSH and follicle count (p< 0.01). Conclusion: This study showed a significant relationship between GRIA1 polymorphisms and ovarian response to the induction of ovulation. Therefore, determining patients' GRIA1 genotype may be useful for improving treatment and prescribing suitable doses of ovulation-stimulating drugs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.325-330
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• 2008

In order to understand the molecular mechanism of heterosis of reproduction traits in chickens, we used the quantitative real-time reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction (Quantitative real-time RT-PCR) technique to investigate the differential expression of estrogen receptor (ESR) and follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) genes in 32-week-old ovaries of inbred chickens and their hybrid offspring in $4{\times}4$ diallel crosses, which involved White Plymouth Rock (E), CAU Brown (D), Silkies (C) and White Leghorn (A). We found that there were significant differences in mRNA expression of ESR and FSHR genes not only between hybrids and their parental lines (p<0.01), but also among different crosses (p<0.01). Furthermore, positive correlations between differential expression of both ESR and FHSR in hybrids and heterosis percentages of 32-week-old and 42-week-old egg number traits were significant at p<0.05. Our results suggested that differential expression of ESR and FSHR genes in the ovaries of inbred chickens and their hybrids could play roles in the formation of heterosis of egg number traits to some extent.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2021

Objective: Poor ovarian response (POR) refers to a subnormal follicular response that leads to a decrease in the quality and quantity of the eggs retrieved after ovarian stimulation during assisted reproductive treatment (ART). The present study investigated the associations of multiple variants of the estrogen receptor 2 (ESR2) and follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) genes with POR in infertile Jordanian women undergoing ART. Methods: Four polymorphisms, namely ESR2 rs1256049, ESR2 rs4986938, FSHR rs6165, and FSHR rs6166, were investigated in 60 infertile Jordanian women undergoing ART (the case group) and 60 age-matched fertile women (the control group), with a mean age of 33.60±6.34 years. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism and then validated using Sanger sequencing. Results: The p-value of the difference between the case and control groups regarding FSHR rs6166 was very close to 0.05 (p=0.054). However, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of the other three SNPs, namely ESR2 rs1256049, ESR2 rs4986938, and FSHR rs6165 (p=0.561, p=0.433, and p=0.696, respectively). Conclusion: The association between FSHR rs6166 and POR was not statistically meaningful in the present study, but the near-significant result of this experiment suggests that statistical significance might be found in a future study with a larger number of patients.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 2020

Equine follicle stimulating hormone receptor (eFSHR) has a large extracellular domain and an intracellular domain containing approximately 10 phosphorylation sites within the G protein-coupled receptor. This study was conducted to analyze the function of phosphorylation sties at the eFSHR C-terminal region. We constructed a mutant of eFSHR, in which the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail was truncated at residue 641 (eFSHR-t641). This removed 10 potential phosphorylation sites from the C-terminal region of the intracellular loop. The eFSHR-wild type (eFSHR-wt) and eFSHR-t641 cDNAs were subcloned into the pCMV-ARMS1-PK2 expression vector. These plasmids were transfected into PathHunter CHO-K1 Parental cells expressing β-arrestin 2 enzyme acceptor fusion protein and analyzed for agonist-induced cAMP response. The cAMP response in cells expressing eFSHR-t641 was lower than the response in cells expressing eFSHR-wt. EC₅₀ values of eFSHR-wt and eFSHR-t641 were 1079 ng/mL and 1834 ng/mL, respectively. eFSHR-t641 was approximately 0.58-fold compared with that of eFSHR-wt. The maximal response in eFSHR-wt and eFSHR-t641 was 24.7 nM and 16.7 nM, respectively. The Rmax value of phosphorylation sites in eFSHR-t641 was also decreased to approximately 68.4% of that in eFSHR-wt. The collective data implicate that the phosphorylation sites in the eFSHR C-terminal region have a pivotal role in signal transduction in PathHunter CHO-K1 cells, and indicate that β-arrestin is involved in coupling the activated receptors to the internalization system.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2018

In this study, we analyzed signal transduction by equine follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (eFSHR) on sti- mulation with recombinant $eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ ($rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$), natural porcine FSH (pFSH), and natural human FSH (hFSH). cAMP stimulation in CHO-K1 cells expressing eFSHR was determined upon exposure to different doses (0-1450 ng/mL) of these hormones. The $EC_{50}$ value of $rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ was 53.35 ng/mL. The Rmax values of $rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ and pFSH were 28.12 and 2.88 ng/mL, respectively. The activity of $rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ was much higher than that of natural pFSH. However, signal transduction in CHO PathHunter Parental cells expressing eFSHR was not enhanced by stimulation with natural hFSH. Thus, $rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ was completely active in cells expressing eFSHR. However, natural hFSH did not invoke a signal response in cells expressing eFSHR. Particularly, natural pFSH was weakly active in the same cells. These results showed that $eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ has potent activity in cells expressing eFSHR. Thus, $rec-eelFSH{\beta}/{\alpha}$ may efficiently bind to eFSHR, where as natural hFSH does not bind to eFSHR.