Glycobiology Advance Access originally published online on October 23, 2003
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Glycobiology vol 14 no 2 pp. 169-175, 2004
© Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved.
LacZ expression in Fut2-LacZ reporter mice reveals estrogen-regulated endocervical glandular expression during estrous cycle, hormone replacement, and pregnancy
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, 6428 Medical Science I Box 0617, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0617, USA
Received on August 6, 2003; revised on October 3, 2003; accepted on October 6, 2003
The secretor gene (FUT2) encodes an 
(1,2)fucosyltransferase (E.C. 2.4.1.69) that elaborates (1,2)fucose residues on mucosal epithelium and secreted mucins. Though uterine (1,2)fucosylated glycans have been proposed to be involved in embryo adhesion, mice with a homozygous null mutation of Fut2 displayed normal fertility. To help develop alternative hypotheses for function, the cell type and regulation of Fut2 expression during the estrous cycle, hormone replacement, and pregnancy was examined in Fut2-LacZ reporter mice containing targeted replacement of Fut2 with bacterial lacZ. LacZ expression in the reproductive tract of Fut2-LacZ mice is most prominent in the glandular epithelium of the endocervix during estrus and pregnancy. Nuclear LacZ expression identifies cell-specific expression of Fut2 in mucus-secreting cells of the endocervix, uterine glands, foveolar pit and chief cells of the stomach, and goblet cells of the colon. In ovariectomized Fut2-LacZ mice, estradiol treatment stimulates X-gal staining in endocervix and uterus but does not affect expression in stomach and colon. Northern blot analysis in wild-type mice shows 15-fold elevations of Fut2 steady-state mRNA with estradiol treatment, whereas Fut1 varies little. Fut2 levels in the glandular stomach and distal colon remain constant, and uterine Fut2 levels vary eightfold during the estrous cycle. These data represent the first demonstration of a glycosyltransferase gene under tissue-specific hormonal regulation in a LacZ reporter mouse model. Endocervical expression of Fut2 in estrus and pregnancy may modify cervical mucus barrier properties from microbial infection analogous to the potential role of mucosal glycans in humans.
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: sedomino{at}med.umich.edu
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