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Title: FETAL AGE, BREED AND UTERINE ENVIRONMENT EFFECTS ON FETAL PIG LIVER PROTEIN SECRETION

Author
item Pearson, Paul
item Christenson, Ronald
item Klemcke, Harold
item Vallet, Jeff

Submitted to: Biology of Reproduction Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/23/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Two-dimensional PAGE analysis of fetal pig liver cultures was used to investigate differences between fetuses from white crossbred (WC) gilts with a normal (intact; INT) or crowded (unilateral hysterectomized/ ovariectomized; UHO) uterine environment and prolific Chinese Meishan (MS) gilts. Fetuses were collected at slaughter on d24, d30 or d40 of pregnancy from either INT, UHO or MS gilts. The liver of one fetus from each gilt wa removed and up to 200 mg of tissue was cultured for 24 h at 37C in 5 ml MEM with .1X leucine plus 50 uCi 3H-leucine. Cultures were dialyzed and a volume equal to 10 mg of cultured liver was lyophilized and analyzed by 2-D PAGE, coomassie blue staining and fluorography. Spots corresponding to transferrin (TF; Mr 80,000, pI=6), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP; Mr 80,000, pI=5.2) retinol-binding protein (RBP; Mr 20,000, pI=5.5), two unidentified proteins (4; Mr 12,000, pI=8 and 5; Mr 12,000 pI=7), and background (B; no staining) were punched and cpm determined. Counts from spots were expresse as (cpm-cpm B)/total cpm. Analysis of variance revealed that TF increased (p<.01) from d24 (5.68x10 to the -03; n=12) to d30 (8.91x10 to the -03; n=19) and increased further (p<.01) at d40 (1.44x10 to the -02; n=19). Transferrin did not differ between WC INT (1.01x10 to the -02; n=14) or UHO (9.79x10 to the -03; n=17) gilts but both were greater (p<.05) than MS (8.51x10 to the -03; n=18). Retinol binding protein was greater (p<.05) at both d24 (1.14x10 to the -03; n=12) and d30 (1.03x10 to the -03; n=20) than d40 (7.34x10 to the -04; n=20). Protein 5 was greater (p<.01) at both d30 (4.55x10 to the -03; n=19) and d40 (6.11x10 to the -03; n=20) than at d24 (6.47x10 to the -05; n=12). Increases in TF and protein 5 coincide with the onset of fetal liver hematopoiesis and may play a role in this process.