title: Altered protein expression in gestational diabetes mellitus placentas provides insight into insulin resistance and coagulation/fibrinolysis pathways.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the placental proteome differences between pregnant women complicated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and those with normal glucose tolerance (NGT).
  
  
  METHODS
  We used two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE) to separate and compare placental protein levels from GDM and NGT groups. Differentially expressed proteins between the two groups were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry and further confirmed by Western blotting. The mRNA levels of related proteins were measured by realtime RT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed to examine the cellular location of the proteins expressed in placenta villi.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one protein spots were differentially expressed between GDM and NGT placenta villi in the tested samples, fifteen of which were successfully identified by mass spectrometry. The molecular functions of these differentially expressed proteins include blood coagulation, signal transduction, anti-apoptosis, ATP binding, phospholipid binding, calcium ion binding, platelet activation, and tryptophan-tRNA ligase activity. Both protein and mRNA levels of Annexin A2, Annexin A5 and 14-3-3 protein ζ/δ were up-regulated, while the expression of the Ras-related protein Rap1A was down-regulated in the GDM placenta group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Placenta villi derived from GDM pregnant women exhibit significant proteome differences compared to those of NGT mothers. The identified differentially expressed proteins are mainly associated with the development of insulin resistance, transplacental transportation of glucose, hyperglucose-mediated coagulation and fibrinolysis disorders in the GDM placenta villi.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voss
authors.forename: Fang-hua
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Ming-zhe
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yong-dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Zi-lian
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001777:Blood Coagulation; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005260:Female; D005342:Fibrinolysis; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger