Altered beta 1,6-GlcNAc and bisecting GlcNAc-branched N-glycan on integrin beta 1 are associated with early spontaneous miscarriage in humans

作者:Zhang Min; Wang Meirong; Gao Rufei; Liu Xueqing; Chen Xuemei; Geng Yanqing; Ding Yubin; Wang Yingxiong; He Junlin*
来源:Human Reproduction, 2015, 30(9): 2064-2075.
DOI:10.1093/humrep/dev153

摘要

Do N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (GnT-V) and N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III (GnT-III) play an important role in early spontaneous miscarriage (ESM) in humans. The dynamic balance between GnT-V and GnT-III expression in chorionic villi differed between early normal pregnancy and ESM and was associated with altered beta 1,6-N-acetylglucosamine (beta 1,6-GlcNAc) and bisecting N-acetylglucosamine (bis-GlcNAc) branched N-glycans on integrin beta 1. GnT-V contributes to metastasis, while GnT-III is recognized as a metastasis suppressor. It has been reported that GnT-V contributes to placentation in the early phase of pregnancy, possibly regulating trophoblast invasion. However, the expressions of GnT-V and GnT-III in ESM have not been reported. Villous samples from 6 to 9 weeks of gestation were collected in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from May 2013 to September 2014 from 60 normal pregnant women undergoing elective termination of pregnancy and from 40 patients with a clinical diagnosis of ESM. Quantitative PCR and western blots were used to examine the GnT-V and GnT-III mRNA (Mgat5 and Mgat3) and protein expression, respectively, of chorionic villi in both the ESM group and the normal group from week 6 to week 9. We used immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry to detect the location of GnT-V and GnT-III. Lectin fluorescence and histochemistry were used to test the location of beta 1,6-GlcNAc and bis-GlcNAc branching in the normal and ESM groups. To assess the functional capacity of GnT-V and GnT-III in the chorionic villi between the two groups, we used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit to measure the activity of these enzymes. Using co-precipitated integrin alpha 5 beta 1 followed by phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-L and PHA-E blotting, we investigated whether GnT-V and GnT-III could modify the N-glycosylation profile in terms of the beta 1,6-GlcNAc and bis-GlcNAc structures in integrin alpha 5 beta 1 during the first trimester in both groups. In the normal group expression and activity of GnT-V and the concentration of its product, beta 1,6-GlcNAc were higher at week 9 than at weeks 6, 7 and 8 (P < 0.05). In contrast, the expression and activity of GnT-III and the concentration of its product, bis-GlcNAc were higher at week 6 than at weeks 7, 8 and 9 (P < 0.05). Compared with the normal group, the ESM group exhibited a lower expression of GnT-V and beta 1,6-GlcNAc (P < 0.05) and a higher expression of GnT-III and bis-GlcNAc (P < 0.05) with consistent changes in enzymatic activity. Immunofluorescence showed that GnT-V was located mainly in the cytoplasm of syncytiotrophoblasts (STBs) and chorionic villous cytotrophoblasts (CTBs), in both the ESM group and the normal group. beta 1,6-GlcNAc N-glycan was mainly located outside of the STB and CTB layer in normal villi and was expressed only rarely in the ESM villi. GnT-III was expressed primarily in the cytoplasm of STBs and expressed only very weakly in the CTBs of normal villi, whereas it was highly expressed in both the STBs and CTBs in the ESM group. bis-GlcNAc was primarily located outside of the STBs in the normal villi, whereas it was expressed much more abundantly outside of both the STBs and CTBs in the ESM group at each week of gestation. Moreover, decreased beta 1,6-GlcNAc-branched N-glycans and increased bis-GlcNAc-branched N-glycans on integrin beta 1 (P < 0.05) were observed in the ESM group. Our findings provide a new insight for studying the mechanism of clinical ESM in humans and it might be valuable for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of ESM. The study lacks experiments in vitro to disclose the precise mechanism by which GnT-V and GnT-III regulate ESM. In some cases, degradation of the tissues after the miscarriage event cannot be ruled out. This study was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31271546). The authors have no competing interests.