qPCR data - Mid-pregnancy poly(I:C) viral mimic disrupts placental ABC transporter expression and leads to long-term offspring motor and cognitive dysfunction
Description
Abstract: Limited information is available about the effect of mid-pregnancy viral infections on the placental expression of efflux transporters and offspring behavior. We hypothesized that maternal exposure to polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)], a synthetic double-stranded RNA viral mimic, would impair placental cell turnover, the expression of selected ABC transporters and adult offspring behavior. C57BL/6 mice were administered poly(I:C) (10mg/Kg;ip) or vehicle at gestational day (GD) 13.5 (mid-pregnancy). Dams were euthanized for blood collection 4 h after injection, fetal and placental collection at GD18.5 or allowed to deliver spontaneously at term. At GD 13.5, poly(I:C) induced an acute pro-inflammatory response characterized by an increase in maternal plasma levels of IL-6, CXCL-1 and CCL-2. At GD 18.5, poly(I:C) decreased cell proliferation/death in the labyrinthine and increased cell death in the junctional zones, a disruption of placental cell turnover. Abca1 and Abcg1 immunolabelling was decreased in the labyrinthine zone, but Abca1, Abcg1 and breast cancer resistance transporter (Bcrp) expression increased in the junctional zone. Moreover, adult offspring showed motor and cognitive impairments in the Rotarod and T-water maze tests. These results indicate that viral infection during mid-pregnancy may disrupt the placental barrier and offspring behavior in adult life. For quantification of qPCR data, the LinRegPCR program was used according to Ruijter et al. (2009). Samples that did not pass in the quality checks of LinReg software (no amplification, no plateau, PCR efficiency outside 10%, excluded from mean Eff) were removed from the analysis. The reference genes were chosen according to their Cq values and variances between the groups. Gene expression was normalized to the geometric mean of reference genes, B2m and Pol2a. To see the other results please click in the link to access the full paper: LINK.