The effect of visfatin on the transcriptomic profile of porcine anterior pituitary cells during periimplantation period

Females' reproductive capacity is closely related to the actual metabolic status of the organism. The pituitary, an element of the regulatory hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, is one of the most important endocrine glands regulating reproductive system activity. Undisturbed functioning of pituitary ensures the regular course of pregnancy through, among others, the modulation of steroid hormones production, which is critical in the early stages of gestation. Visfatin, a hormone belonging to the adipokines family, may belong to a group of factors regulating the reproductive functions in response to the female's metabolic status. Herein we verified the hypothesis assuming a modulatory effect of visfatin on the porcine anterior pituitary transcriptome on days 15 to 16 of gestation (beginning of implantation). RNA-seq analysis of the porcine anterior pituitary cells revealed changes in the expression of 203 genes (121 up-regulated and 82 down-regulated, when compared to the non-treated controls), assigned to 325 gene ontology terms. The presence of visfatin affected the frequency of alternative splicing events (194 cases), as well as long noncoding RNA expression (64 cases). Visfatin expression and the occurrence of alternative splicing events of genes that are responsible, directly or indirectly, for regulation of the secretory functions of the pituitary, including those critical for reproductive functions suggests that the adipokine may be a key agent in ensuring the appropriate hormonal milieu during the peri-implantation period.