Analytical chemistry of canine follicular fluid completed with 2D-PAGE and MS

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and mass spectrometry (MS) were used in recent analytical chemistry research conducted by a team of French scientists on canines.

Published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, their findings report how 2D-PAGE and MS were employed in proteomic analyses and radioimmunoassay studies of steroids in canine follicular fluid.

Their investigations were part of a desire to better understand the components of follicular fluid and how they relate to oocyte quality and follicular development.

In their conclusions, the team note the discovery of size-related changes in the concentrations of steroids in the fluid associated with the ovulatory surge in luteinising hormone (LH).

Theirs is the first experiment to demonstrate this link, they write, with intrafollicular concentration of progesterone seen to have increased immediately following the LH peak.

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology is a forum through which researchers in related disciplines can disseminate the findings of landmark studies.