| Popis: |
Metallothioneins (MTs), the intracellular, ubiquitous, low molecular cysteine rich proteins are stress-proteins, which participate in cell reactions on different kinds of injuries, as well as in host defense responses, affecting the functions of several immune cells, TLR signaling, expression of MHC proteins and co-stimulatory molecules on dendritic cells and the production and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Furthermore, MTs participate in cell growth, repair and differentiation, since as metal-donors or metal-acceptors they alter the functional state of metal-dependent proteins, such as zinc finger domain-containing transcription factors, DNA synthesis enzymes and signal transduction molecules. Moreover, they may prevent apoptosis by scavenging reactive oxygen species or by interaction with other intracellular messengers, such as caspase 3, ATP and GTP nucleotides and NFkB. Owing to the possibility that MTs contribute to the structural integrity of the placenta and participate in local immunoregulation and in fetal organogenesis and development, in this study, using the immunohistochemistry, we analyzed the tissue distribution of MTs I/II on 16th day of syngeneic pregnancy in maternal (placenta, liver, thymus and spleen), as well as in neonatal tissues (skin, liver, kidney, colon, brain). The data have shown that syngeneic pregnancy induces high cytoplasmic expression of MTs I/II in maternal liver, as well as in fetoplacental unit, affecting syncytiotrophoblast, cytotrophoblast, stromal and macrophages-like cells within the core of the chorionic vili and some decidual cells. Additionally, a high cytoplasmic and nuclear MT I/II immunoreactivity was noticed in fetal liver and in epithelial tissues, such as skin, intestine, pancreas and gallbladder, as well as in fetal kidney, and developing hair folicules, pointing to the role of MTs in organogenesis and protection of fetus during pregnancy. Supported by grant 0621341-1337 from Croatian Ministry of Science. |
