Abstract
During normal pregnancy, there is a dynamic regulation of the maternal immune system, including the liver, to accommodate the presence of the allogeneic foetus in the uterus. However, it was unclear that the expression of the IkappaB (IκB) family was regulated in the ovine maternal liver during early pregnancy. In this study, sheep livers were collected at day 16 of the oestrous cycle (NP16), and days 13, 16 and 25 of gestation (DP13, DP16 and DP25), and RT-qPCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis were used to analyse the expression of the IκB family, including B cell leukemia-3 (BCL-3), IκBα, IκBβ, IκBε, IKKγ, IκBNS and IκBζ. The results revealed that expression of BCL-3, IκBβ, IκBε and IKKγ peaked at DP16, and the expression of IκBα was increased during early pregnancy. In addition, the expression of IκBζ peaked at DP13 and DP16, and IκBNS peaked at DP13. IκBβ and IKKγ proteins were located in the endothelial cells of the proper hepatic arteries and portal veins, and hepatocytes. In conclusion, early pregnancy changed the expression of the IκB family, suggesting that the modulation of the IκB family may be related to the regulation of maternal hepatic functions, which may be favourable for pregnancy establishment in sheep.