Expression of Long Non-Coding RNA H19 in the Endometrium of Mice During Peri-Implantation and Its Regulation on Embryo Implantation

Abstract

In this study, we utilized magnetic nanobeads for the extraction of nucleic acids from tissues to investigate the expression levels and correlation between lncRNA H19, miR-612, and their target gene HOXA10 in peri-implantation endometrium of mice. Furthermore, we conducted overexpression or gene knockout experiments on lncRNA H19 to observe its impact on the expression of miR-612 and HOXA10. The targeted binding relationship between lncRNA H19, miR-612, and HOXA10 was detected by dual luciferase reporter assay. The regulatory relationship between lncRNA H19, miR-612, and HOXA10 was verified through silencing or overexpression of these genes. Intrauterine transfection was used to modulate the expression of lncRNA H19 in endometria during pregnancy, followed by the detection of the expression levels of miR-612 and HOXA10 as well as ITGB3 and IGFBP-1 proteins. Compared with non-pregnant mice, we observed a significant upregulation of both lncRNA H19 and HOXA10 in the endometria of pregnant mice, while miR-612 was found to be downregulated (P < 0.05). Further analysis revealed that the expression levels of lncRNA H19 and HOXA10 increased progressively with gestational days, peaking on Day 4 (P < 0.05). Moreover, Through database analysis, we identified binding sites for lncRNA H19-miR-612 as well as HOXA10-miR-612 interactions. The dual-luciferase reporter assay further supported our conjecture that lncRNA H19 could specifically bind the miR-612, which in turn targets HOXA10 to regulate its expression (P < 0.05). In conclusion, regulations of lncRNA H19 and HOXA10 expression contribute to enhancing endometrial receptivity and facilitating decidualization of endometrial stromal cells, ultimately promoting successful embryo implantation.