The Hippo pathway is involved in the proliferation of intrafollicular cells and in early embryonic development, mainly because effectors of this pathway are key transcription regulators of genes such as CTGF and CYR61, which are involved in cell proliferation. Recent studies by our group found that fibroblast growth factor 18 (FGF18) is present in the fallopian tube during early embryonic development, leading to the hypothesis that FGF18 may have a role during embryonic development. Therefore, the aim of the following study was to determine whether FGF18 modulates the expression of Hippo pathway target genes, CTGF and CYR61, during oocyte maturation and early embryonic development. Three experiments were carried out, with in vitro maturation (IVM) of cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) and embryo culture. In experiment one, FGF18 (100 ng/ml) induced an increase (P < 0.05) in CTGF gene expression at 12 h post-exposure. In experiment two, FGF18 (100 ng/ml) induced a reduction (P < 0.05) in CTGF expression at 3 h post-exposure. In the third experiment, day 7 embryos exposed to FGF18 during oocyte IVM expressed greater CTGF mRNA abundance, whereas FGF18 exposure during embryo in vitro embryo culture did not alter CTGF expression in comparison with untreated controls. The preliminary data presented here show that FGF18 modulates CTGF expression in critical periods of oocyte nuclear maturation, cumulus expansion and early embryonic development in cattle.

Hippo途径参与滤泡内细胞的增殖和早期胚胎发育，主要是因为该途径的效应物是参与细胞增殖的CTGF和CYR61等基因的关键转录调节因子。我们小组最近的研究发现，成纤维细胞生长因子18（FGF18）在早期胚胎发育过程中存在于输卵管中，从而导致FGF18可能在胚胎发育过程中发挥作用的假设。因此，以下研究的目的是确定 FGF18 是否在卵母细胞成熟和早期胚胎发育过程中调节 Hippo 途径靶基因CTGF和CYR61的表达。进行了三个实验，其中卵丘-卵母细胞复合物 (COC) 和胚胎培养的体外成熟 (IVM)。在实验一中，FGF18 (100 ng/ml) 在暴露后 12 小时诱导CTGF基因表达增加 ( P < 0.05) 。在实验二中，FGF18 (100 ng/ml) 在暴露后 3 小时诱导CTGF表达减少 ( P < 0.05) 。在第三个实验中，在卵母细胞 IVM 期间暴露于 FGF18 的第 7 天胚胎表达了更高的CTGF mRNA 丰度，而与未处理的对照相比，在胚胎体外胚胎培养期间暴露于 FGF18 并未改变CTGF表达。这里提供的初步数据表明 FGF18 调节CTGF在牛卵母细胞核成熟、卵丘扩张和早期胚胎发育的关键时期表达。