Luteinizing hormone stimulation of in vitro ovulation in brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) involves follicle contraction and activation of proteolytic genes.

Luteinizing hormone (LH) is an essential hormone for the stimulation of the ovulatory process in vertebrates. However, little is known in fish regarding the different mechanisms induced by LH during ovulation that facilitate the rupture of the follicle wall and the subsequent expulsion of the mature oocyte. In this study, the effects of salmon LH (sLH) on in vitro ovulation were investigated in brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) isolated follicles. sLH significantly stimulated in vitro ovulation and contraction of brook trout preovulatory follicles. In order to investigate the possible involvement of proteolytic events in the ovulatory action of LH, the expression of genes known to have a crucial role in the degradation of follicle wall structure was examined. Our results show that sLH clearly stimulated the mRNA expression levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs; including mmp2 and mmp19) and other enzymes with proteolytic action during ovulation, such as a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin-like motifs 1 (adamts1) and plasminogen (plg), in brook trout preovulatory follicles. In addition, the expression of mmp2, adamts1 and plg increased in brook trout follicles during the progression of LH-induced ovulation. Interestingly, the expression of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (timp2), a known regulator of MMP2 activity, paralleled that of mmp2, suggesting the existence of a controlled mechanism of MMP2 action. Therefore, the known increase in proteolytic activity during ovulation in fish could be the result of the stimulation of the expression of proteolytic enzymes by LH in preovulatory follicles. We propose that LH may stimulate ovulation in brook trout follicles by stimulating proteolysis of the follicle wall and by stimulating follicle contraction.