Postnatal Leptin Promotes Organ Maturation and Development in IUGR Piglets
Figure 3
FOXO3A expression in ovaries of IUGR piglet treated with either saline (IUGRSal) or leptin (IUGRLep).
(A) Detection of FOXO3A by Western Blot using FOXO3A antibody in piglet IUGRSal and IUGRLep ovaries at d21. (B) Immunostaining of piglet ovarian sections using FOXO3A antibody (a, b and c) showing a diffuse cytoplasmic staining in the oocytes of primary follicles (a), a strong perinuclear (arrows) and diffuse cytoplasmic staining in the oocytes of primordial follicles (b) and a strong perinuclear staining in the oocytes of secondary follicles (c), Bar = 20 µm. Graph in (d) shows FOXO3A staining grade in germ cells; four grades of staining were defined, corresponding to numbers of stained germ cells <5 (grade 0), 5–25 (grade 1), 25–50 (grade 2), and >50 (grade 3) per microscopic field (objective ×40). Graph in (e) shows the numbers of oocytes with a strong perinuclear staining. Data in panels d and e represent results of germ cell counting in the sub-epithelial and in the deep zones of ovarian cortex of IUGRSal (n = 6) and IUGRLep (n = 8) piglet ovaries, each zone corresponding to a tissue area of 0.62 mm2 analyzed per animal. Values represent the mean ± SEM, *: p<0.05; **: p<0.01, for leptin effect in IUGR piglet.