Expression and localization of transcription factors SNAIL and SLUG in mouse ovaries and pre-implantation embryos

SNAIL and SLUG are zinc-finger transcription factors that participate in the regulation of cell division, cell survival, mesoderm formation and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. We investigate the expression of SNAIL and SLUG during follicular maturation, ovulation and luteinization in the ovaries of both neonatal mice and gonadotropin-induced immature mice. Furthermore, we examine the expression and localization of these transcription factors during early embryonic cleavage. Our data demonstrate that both SNAIL and SLUG are present in the epithelial cells of the ovarian surface in immature mice. SNAIL is first evident in the interstitial cells and theca cells by postnatal day (PD) 6 and then appears in the oocytes by PD 8, remaining at a constant expression level for all stages studied thereafter. SLUG is expressed in oocytes as early as PD 1. Its expression also increases with the development of the follicles in theca and interstitial cells but not in granulosa cells. In gonadotropin-induced immature mice, both SNAIL and SLUG are expressed in the corpora lutea. During early embryo cleavage, SNAIL occurs in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the majority of the embryo, excluding the nucleolus from the germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) to the 8-cell stage and is then localized in the cytoplasm during the morula stage and in the nucleus during the blastocyst stage. SLUG has an identical expression pattern as SNAIL from GVBD until the morula stage, except that it is localized in the cytoplasm during the blastocyst stage. Taken together, these different localization patterns suggest that SNAIL and SLUG probably play important roles during follicular development, luteinization and early embryonic development.