Knockdown of CYP19A1 in Buffalo Follicular Granulosa Cells Results in Increased Progesterone Secretion and Promotes Cell Proliferation

Cytochrome P450 aromatase 19A1 (CYP19A1) is a critical enzyme in estrogen synthesis. However, the effect of CYP19A1 on cell growth and hormone secretion of buffalo follicular granulosa cells (BFGCs) is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to assess the role of CYP19A1 in cell proliferation and hormone secretion of BFGCs by knocking down CYP19A1 mRNA expression. The mRNA expression level of CYP19A1 gene was knocked down in BFGCs using the siCYP19A1-296 fragment with the best interference efficiency of 72.63%, as affirmed by real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and cell morphology analysis. The CYP19A1 knockdown promoted the proliferation of BFGCs through upregulating the mRNA expression levels of six proliferation-related genes (CCND1, CCNE1, CCNB1, CDK2, CDKN1A, and CDKN1B). Moreover, CYP19A1 knockdown increased (P < 0.05) the concentrations of progesterone secretion (P4) in BFGCs through increasing the mRNA expression levels of three steroidogenic genes (HSD17B1, HSD17B7, and CYP17A1). Our data further found that the FSH could inhibit the mRNA expression level of CYP19A1 in BFGCs, while LH obtains the opposite effect. These findings showed that the CYP19A1 knockdown had a regulatory role in the hormone secretion and cell proliferation in BFGCs.