Expression of iron regulatory proteins in full-term swine placenta
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Date
2020-03
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Abstract
In swine, even though the pregnant sows were with iron abundance, the inborn iron
reserve of piglets was compromised. This indicates the insufficiency of molecular
machinery involved in local placental iron flux. Here, we investigated the expression
of iron regulatory proteins like hepcidin and ferroportin and also their association
with iron reserve, inflammation and oxidative stress in placenta of full-term pregnant
sows (n = 6). Amplification and sequencing of placental DNA confirmed the presence
of hepcidin (MN579557) and ferroportin (MN565887) sequences and their 100%
identity with existing GenBank data. Real-time amplification of placental mRNA revealed
significant higher expression of hepcidin (p < .05) than ferroportin. Western
blot analysis of placental tissues revealed specific bands for both hepcidin (~8 kDa)
and ferroportin (~62 kDa) molecules. Immunohistochemistry revealed the immunoreactivity
for both proteins in the cytoplasm and membrane of trophoblastic cells of
the placenta. Hepcidin and ferroportin expressions were positively associated with
placental non-haem iron reserve (p < .0001; p = .033), lipid peroxidation (p = .0060;
p < .0001) and reactive oxygen species level (p = .0092; p = .0292). Hepcidin expression
was positively associated with interleukin – 6 (p = .0002) and interferon gamma
(p < .0001) expressions but ferroportin expression was negatively associated with
interleukin-6 (p = .0005), interleukin-1β (p = .0226) and interferon gamma (p = .0059)
expressions. This indicates hepcidin and ferroportin may have a role in controlling
the local placental iron flux by acting as a molecular bridge between iron trafficking
and inflammation.
Description
TNV_RDA_2020_55(8)931-942
Keywords
Veterinary Science