Expression of hepcidin and ferroportin in full term swine placenta
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Date
2020-02
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Abstract
In swine, even though the pregnant sows were with iron abundance, the inborn iron reserve of piglets were
compromised indicating the insufficiency of the molecular machinery involved in placental iron transfer from
sow to fetus. Hepcidin and ferroportin are the two important peptides regulating systemic iron homeostasis.
Hepcidin is synthesized from heptocytes in response to changes in iron level, inflammation and oxidative
stress conditions. It controls the iron exportation from cells by acting on membrane iron exporter, ferroportin.
Here we investigated, for the first time, the molecular and morphological expression of iron regulatory proteins
like hepcidin and ferroportin in placenta of full term pregnant sows and their association with placental iron
abundance. Presence of hepcidin and ferroportin sequence in placental DNA was confirmed through PCR and
sequencing (Accession number: Hepcidin - MN579557, Ferroportin - MN565887). Hepcidin and ferroportin
proteins have also been revealed by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The immunoreactivity
for both proteins was observed in the cytoplasm and membrane of the trophoblastic cells of the placenta.
Placental mRNA abundance of hepcidin was associated with local stimuli of hepcidin production like oxidative
stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines expression. Hepcidin expression was also positively associated with
the placental non-heme iron reserve. This indicates that hepcidin has a role in materno-fetal iron transfer by
controlling local iron flux. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the use of hepcidin and ferroportin for
improving iron transfer to the developing fetus and thereby inborn iron reserve in piglets can be increased,
which may prevent the incidence of piglet anaemia.
Description
TNV_20thMVC_PP_Feb-2020_PA59
Keywords
Veterinary Science