title: Do glucose transporters have other roles in addition to placental glucose transport during early pregnancy?
abstract: Human placenta regulates the transport of maternal molecules to the fetus. It is known that glucose transport occurs via glucose transporters (GLUTs) in the feto-placental unit. Data on the expression of GLUTs during implantation are very scarce. Moreover, the question of how the decidual leukocytes obtain the energy for their activation during implantation mechanism is still under investigation. We studied the distributions of GLUT1, GLUT3, and GLUT4 in tissue sections of first trimester pregnancies the human maternal-fetal interface. GLUT1 was present in apical microvilli of the syncytiotrophoblast, in cytotrophoblast, and in vascular patterns of the villous core, whereas GLUT3 was localized in cytotrophoblasts of placental villi and in some fetal endothelial cells. Moreover, the proliferating cells of the proximal cell columns were also immunopositive for GLUT1 and GLUT3. We did not observe any positive immunoreactivity for GLUT4 in placental and decidual tissues. Essentially, GLUT3 and also to some extent GLUT1 was present in maternal leukocytes and platelets. In conclusion, our results suggest that the glucose taken up via GLUT1 and GLUT3 from the maternal circulation might not only be needed for placental functions but also for successful implantation by trophoblast invasion, proliferation and also by having a role to support energy for maternal leukocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, Medical Faculty, Akdeniz University, 07070, Antalya, Turkey. korgun@akdeniz.edu.tr
authors.forename: Emin Turkay
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Korgun
authors.forename: Ciler
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Celik-Ozenci
authors.forename: Yasemin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seval
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Desoye
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Demir
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000032:analysis; D001692:Biological Transport; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D051272:Glucose Transporter Type 1; D051274:Glucose Transporter Type 3; D051275:Glucose Transporter Type 4; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry; D009206:Myocardium / Q000737:chemistry; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D010920:Placenta / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D054562:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1; D014746:Vimentin / Q000032:analysis; D000097382:CD68 Molecule
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D005947:Glucose; D051272:Glucose Transporter Type 1; D051274:Glucose Transporter Type 3; D051275:Glucose Transporter Type 4; D017493:Leukocyte Common Antigens; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D054562:Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 1; D014746:Vimentin; C067980:CD68 antigen, human; D000097382:CD68 Molecule; C495677:SLC2A1 protein, human; C495687:SLC2A3 protein, human; C495692:SLC2A4 protein, human