Conclusion
Decreased expression of p97/VCP and increased expression of Ub in preeclampsia might be related to impaired autophagy and pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Therefore, our study highlights an important potential relationship between p97/VCP and autophagic proteins in preeclampsia.
Material and methods
Different portions of normal term placentas (n = 20) and preeclamptic placentas (n = 10) were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen for Western blotting and coimmunoprecipitation and others were fixed-embedded in paraffin for immunohistochemistry. Colocalization and coimmunoprecipitation experiments were done for the detection of interaction between p97/VCP and autophagic proteins.
Methods
Different portions of normal term placentas (n = 20) and preeclamptic placentas (n = 10) were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen for Western blotting and coimmunoprecipitation and others were fixed-embedded in paraffin for immunohistochemistry. Colocalization and coimmunoprecipitation experiments were done for the detection of interaction between p97/VCP and autophagic proteins.
Results
Compared with normal placentas, expression of p97/VCP was significantly reduced; however accumulation of ubiquitinlated proteins were significantly increased in preeclamptic placentas. The expression of autophagosomal proteins (LC3-II and p62) were significantly increased and no significant alterations of the expression of autolysosomal proteins were observed in preeclamptic placentas. Additionally, p97/VCP was found to colocalized and interact with autophagosomal and autolysosomal markers in normal and preeclamptic placentas. Autophagosome maturation diminished and autophagosomes had decreased localization with lysosomal markers in preeclamptic human placentas.