Expression and functional role of IGFs during early pregnancy in placenta of water buffalo

Adequate vascularisation is a key factor for successful fetal development. We hypothesized that Insulin-Like Growth Factor (IGF) family members regulate angiogenesis along with promoting fetal development and growth. In this experiment, we determined the expression and functional role of IGF family in placental compartments (caruncle; CAR, cotyledon; COT) during different stages of early pregnancy in the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Samples were collected from early pregnancy 1 (EP1, 28-45 days), early pregnancy 2 (EP2, 45-90 days), and third stage of estrous cycle (11-16 days), which was taken as control. In addition, the role of IGF1 on mRNA expression of vWF, StAR, CYP11A1, 3βHSD, PCNA, and BAX were elucidated in cultured trophoblast cells (TCC) obtained from EP2. Quantitative real-time PCR (q-PCR), westernblot, and immunohistochemistry were done to investigate the gene expression, protein expression, and localization of examined factors, and RIA was also done to assess progesterone (P₄) concentration. Expression of IGFs, its receptors and binding proteins were found to be significantly higher (p < 0.05) in both CAR and COT as compared to control during early pregnancy, except binding proteins IGFBP1, 3 and 4 which were significantly (p < 0.05) downregulated in COT with advancement of pregnancy. mRNA expression was consistent with the findings of immunoblotting and immunolocalization experiments. Trophoblasts cell culture (TCC) study showed a significant time and dose-dependent effect of IGF1 onsteroidogenic transcript, which was found to be maximum at 100 ng/ml that paralleled with P₄ accretion in the media (p < 0.05). Further, IGF1 upregulated the transcripts of vWF, PCNA, and downregulated BAX at the same concentration (p < 0.05). Overall, our results demonstrated that the expression of IGFs is a site-specific phenomenon in placentome, which indicates autocrine/paracrine and endocrine function. Our in-vitro finding support that IGF1 plays a critical role in placental development by promoting angiogenesis, steroid synthesis, and cell proliferation during early pregnancy.

Impact of killer immunoglobulin-like receptor-human leukocyte antigens ligand incompatibility among renal transplantation

Killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) gene shows a high degree of polymorphism. Natural killer cell receptor gets activated once they bind to self-human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) with specific ligand. KIR gene and HLA ligand incompatibility due to the presence/absence of KIR in the recipient and the corresponding HLA ligand in the allograft may impact graft survival in solid organ transplantation. This study evaluates the effect of matches between KIR genes and known HLA ligands. KIR genotypes were determined using sequence specific primer polymerase chain reaction. Presence of certain KIR in a recipient, where the donor lacked the corresponding HLA ligand was considered a mismatch. The allograft was considered matched when both KIR receptor and HLA alloantigen reveald compatibility among recipient and donor. The data revealed better survival among individuals with matched inhibitory KIR receptors and their corresponding HLA ligands (KIR2DL2/DL3-HLAC2, KIR3DL1-HLABw4). On the contrary, no adverse effect was seen for matched activating KIR receptors and their corresponding HLA ligands. One of the activating gene KIR2DS4 showed risk (P = 0.0413, odds ratio = 1.91, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-3.57) association with renal allograft rejection. We conclude that the presence of inhibitory KIR gene leads to better survival; whereas activating motifs show no significant role in renal allograft survival.

Small interfering RNAs inhibit infectious bursal disease virus replication in Vero cells

Small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules are considered to be a promising antiviral therapeutics. This study was performed to analyze the application of siRNA against infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) replication. Two siRNAs were designed to target common coding sequences of four IBDV proteins. Corresponding vectors were constructed to express anti-IBDV short hairpin RNAs (shRNA) that were tested for their antiviral effect in Vero cells. The results showed that expressed shRNA inhibited the virus replication to a significant extent (92%) as determined by the virus titration in cell culture. This outcome demonstrated the effectiveness of RNA interference (RNAi) based mechanism against the IBDV in vitro.

Molecular Characterization of Heat Shock Protein 70-1 Gene of Goat (Capra hircus)

Heat shock protein 70 (HSP 70) plays a vital role by bestowing cytoprotection against diverse kinds of stresses. The ubiquitous HSP 70 proteins are the most abundant and temperature sensitive among all the HSPs. The present paper has characterized HSP70-1 cDNA in goat (Capra hircus). Total RNA isolated from goat peripheral blood mononuclear cells was reverse transcribed to cDNA that was used for amplification of HSP 70-1 gene. PCR product (1926 bp) was cloned in pGEM-T easy vector and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed 1926-bp-long open reading frame of HSP 70-1 gene encoding 641 amino acids in goat, as reported in cattle. At nucleotide level, goat HSP 70-1 was found to be 96-99% similar to that of sheep (partial), cattle, and buffalo whereas the similarity at amino acid level was 95-100%. Nonsynonymous substitutions exceeding synonymous substitutions indicate the evolution of this protein through positive selection among domestic animals. Goat and sheep appear to have diverged from a common ancestor in phylogenetic analysis. Predicted protein structures of goat HSP 70 protein obtained from deduced amino acid sequence indicated that the functional amino acids involved in chaperoning through ATPase hydrolytic cycle and in uncoating of clathrin coated vesicles are highly conserved.