title: Isolation and partial characterization of three pregnancy-associated glycoproteins from the ewe placenta.
abstract: Pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) are synthesized in the outer epithelial layer of the placenta in artiodactyls. In this work, three novel ovine PAGs were isolated from late-pregnancy fetal cotyledons and characterized biochemically. The isolation procedure included acid and ammonium sulfate precipitations and anion and cation exchange chromatographies. The isolated PAGs have different NH(2)-terminal amino acid sequences (RGSXLTILPLRNMRDIVY, ISRVSXLTIHPLRNIMDML, and RGSNLTIHPLRNIRD) and apparent molecular masses (55, 57, and 59 kDa). Each shows several isoforms with different pI values. The three proteins share high sequence identity with each other and with other ovine, bovine, and caprine PAGs. They have not been described previously. The ovPAG-59 sequence differs from the previously identified ovPAG-4 sequence (determined by DNA cloning and sequencing) at only one position among the 15 N-terminal residues. The newly characterized ovPAGs and the procedure used to isolate them will be helpful in producing new antisera for investigating PAG secretion in pregnant ewes.
authors.affiliation: University of Liege, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Physiology of Reproduction, Liege, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bouchra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: El Amiri
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Remy
authors.forename: Noelita Melo
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Joris
authors.forename: Nicole Gerardin
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Ottiers
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Perenyi
authors.forename: Henri Banga
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Mboko
authors.forename: Jean-Francois
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Beckers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins