Abstract
The placenta is a temporary organ that provides communication between the mother
and fetus. Maternal diabetes and abnormal placental angiogenesis may be linked.
We investigated the angiogenesis mechanism resulting from VEGF and glucose
stimulation in PECs obtained from human term placenta. Immunohistochemistry was
performed to characterize PECs obtained from human term placenta. D-glucose was
added to the medium containing PECs to establish normoglycemic and hyperglycemic
conditions. The expression levels of VEGF, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 genes and
proteins in PECs from the control and experimental groups were analyzed by
RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. With 48-hours incubation, gene
expressions increased due to hyperglycemia, while protein levels increased due
to the combined effect of VEGF and hyperglycemia. While VEGFR-2 gene expression
and protein amounts increased in 24-hours due to the combined effect of VEGF and
hyperglycemia, the effect of VEGF stimulation and glucose level on VEGFR-2
decreased in 48-hour incubation with time. VEGF, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 genes and
proteins were affected by hyperglycemic conditions in PECs. Hyperglycemia
occurring in various conditions such as gestational diabetes mellitus and
diabetes mellitus may affect VEGF, VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 genes and proteins of
PECs derived from human term placenta.
Keywords
placenta - angiogenesis - hyperglycemia - pregnancy - cell culture techniques