Title:The Biology of the Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor System in the Female Reproductive Tract
Volume: 19
Issue: 25
Author(s): Leandro Martín Velez, Giselle Adriana Abruzzese and Alicia Beatriz Motta
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor (PPAR), female reproductive tract, infertility, fuel sensors, insulin resistance, polycystic
ovary syndrome, prostaglandins, ovary, uterus.
Abstract: Fuel sensors such as glucose, insulin or leptin, are known to be directly involved in the regulation of fertility at each level of
the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. The discovery of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) family of transcription
factors has revealed the link between lipid/glucose availability and long-term metabolic adaptation. By binding to specific regions of
DNA in heterodimers with the retinoid X receptors (RXRs), the members of the PPAR family (α, β/δ, γ) are able to regulate the gene expressions
of several key regulators of energy homeostasis including several glucose regulators (glucose transporters, insulin receptor,
substrate insulin receptor, etc), and also metabolic and endocrine pathways like lipogenesis, steroidogenesis, ovulation, oocyte maturation,
maintenance of the corpus luteum, nitric oxide system, several proteases and plasminogen activator among others. All the three
PPAR isoforms are expressed in different tissues of the female reproductive tract and regulate gametogenesis, ovulation, corpus luteum
regression and the implantation process among others. The present review discusses the mechanisms involved in PPAR activation focusing
on endogenous and synthetic ligands of PPAR not only in physiological but also in pathological conditions (such as polycystic ovary
syndrome, pathologies of implantation process, chronic anovulation, etc).
