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oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/19204 2023-07-10 col_2142_5131 col_2142_16508 com_2142_5130 com_2142_16507 com_2142_14793 com_2142_8903

Sherwood, O. David Hwang, Jiuan-Jiuan 2011-05-07T12:00:06Z 2011-05-07T12:00:06Z 10000-01-01 1990 The purpose of the present research was to determine the physiological roles of endogenous relaxin in pregnant rats by passive immunization with a monoclonal antibody specific for rat relaxin (MCA1). Recently, Lao Guico-Lamm and Sherwood demonstrated that rats treated with MCA1 throughout the second half of pregnancy exhibited prolonged delivery and reduced pup survival at birth compared to controls. I first examined the hypothesis that the influence of endogenous relaxin on birth is attributable, at least partly, to its effects on the cervix. The initial study showed that cervices obtained on day 22 of pregnancy from rats treated with MCA1 throughout the second half of pregnancy were markedly smaller and less extensible than cervices from controls. The second study demonstrated that rats treated with MCA1 during only the last three days of pregnancy, the so-called antepartum period, exhibited prolonged delivery and reduced cervical growth and softening compared to controls. However, passive immunization of relaxin during the antepartum period has less profound effects on cervical growth and softening and litter delivery than did passive immunization of relaxin throughout the second half of pregnancy. Collectively, studies 1 and 2 provided strong support for the hypothesis that relaxin enables rapid and safe delivery of the pups, at least partly, by promoting growth and softening of the cervix. The second study also demonstrated that pups born of relaxin deficient rats exhibited reduced weight and postpartum survival rate. Accordingly, I examined the hypothesis that endogenous relaxin contributes to the development of the mammary apparatus and lactational performance. On day 22 rats treated with MCA1 throughout the second half of pregnancy exhibited smaller nipples and abnormal morphology of the mammary glands compared to controls. Furthermore, MCA1-treated rats, cesarean sectioned near term, showed poor lactational performance towards foster pups born of untreated intact rats as judged by pup growth and survival. In conclusion, the present research establishes two vital physiological needs for endogenous relaxin during pregnancy. Relaxin promotes not only the cervical growth and softening required for birth but also the development of the mammary apparatus essential for growth and survival of the young during lactation. Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T12:00:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4922 bytes, checksum: 910b249b4beec47e7ab768910c8f966f (MD5) 9114275.pdf: 4198665 bytes, checksum: 20a1d3587380681b5316ce0a55ed826c (MD5) Previous issue date: 1990 Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Howard Ding (hding2@illinois.edu) on 2011-05-07T14:35:21Z Item is restricted indefinitely. Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:13:54-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission U of I Only AAI9114275 (UMI)AAI9114275 http://hdl.handle.net/2142/19204 eng Copyright 1990 Hwang, Jiuan-Jiuan Biology, General Biology, Animal Physiology Biology, Zoology The use of monoclonal antibodies specific for rat relaxin to study the physiological roles of relaxin in pregnant rats text Department of Physiology and Biophysics Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Physiology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Dissertation Ph.D.