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The pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) are a large gene family expressed in trophoblast cells of ruminant ungulates. The detection of PAGs in maternal serum has served as the basis for pregnancy detection in ruminant ungulates and also for use as markers of trophoblast developm ...

In this chapter, we describe protocols for the generation and characterization of alkaline phosphatase-ligand fusion proteins and their use as tools for the identification of specific ligand-receptor interactions.

Complementary DNAs of three recombinant proteins related to the prolactin family: ovine placental lactogen (oPL), ovine prolactin (oPRL), and rabbit soluble extracellular domain of prolactin receptor (rbPRLR-ECD) were subcloned by different methods and inserted into prokar ...

Placental hormones contribute to changes in maternal physiology, especially to changes in the blood system. Methods are described to express a placental hormone from a cloned cDNA by transfection into a mammalian cell line, to purify the hormone, and to assess the activities of the hormone in pr ...

Interferon (IFN)τ, a Type I IFN produced by the conceptus trophectoderm, is the pregnancy recognition signal in ruminants that prevents development of the endometrial luteolytic mechanism. In addition, IFNτ acts in a paracrine manner on the ovine endometrium to induce or increase expre ...

Despite being one of the leading causes of maternal death and a major contributor of maternal and perinatal morbidity, the mechanisms responsible for the pathogenesis of preeclampsia are unknown. The initiating event in preeclampsia has been postulated to be reduced uteroplacental p ...

Preeclampsia is characterized by the clinical triad of new hypertension, proteinuria, and edema after 20 wk of gestation. Recent evidence suggests that disturbances in angiogenic factors (such as vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor) signaling and endo ...

Immunological imbalances have been hypothesized as a cause for the onset of preeclampsia, which is a very severe, pregnancy-related disease. We recently described a novel preeclampsia mouse model by adoptively transferring activated BALB/c Th1-like splenocytes into allogenei ...

Oxygen has a profound influence on the behavior of many cell types, including trophoblast. The effects are mediated in part through the generation of oxygen free radicals, which act as signaling molecules. Because of their high reactivity, free radicals are, however, potentially damaging ...

Hemoglobin (Hb) crystallization is of significance both in vivo and in vitro. Hb crystals form in red blood cells (RBCs), as occurs in the case of patients expressing βC-globin (β6 Glu→Lys). In vitro, high-resolution structural determination by crystallographic methods requires the grow ...

Protein engineering, generation of mutant or modified forms of protein, has become the first step for studying the correlation of structure and function of proteins. Design and generation of novel protein molecules with tailormade properties is the long-range goal of such studies. Such n ...

The pioneering work of Kan and Dozy (1) revealed by restriction endonuclease mapping a genetic variation in an HpaI recognition site about 5000 nucleotides from the 3′ end of the β-globin gene. Instead of a normal 7.6-kb fragment containing the β-globin gene, 7.0- and 13.0-kb variants were detected and ...

The development of molecular biological techniques to selectively replace individual amino acids has furthered our understanding of the relationship between the structure and function of hemoglobin (Hb). Initial reports described production of normal and modified human glo ...

A wide variety of transgenic mouse models expressing human globin genes have been generated in the last decade and a half. The majority of these models have been sickle transgenic models because they can advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease, aid in developme ...

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy detects the interaction of radiofrequency (rf) radiation with the nuclear spins of molecules placed in an applied magnetic field. Because the spins are sensitive to their environment, and may be coupled to one another both through chemical ...

In sickle hemoglobin (HbS), a valine is substituted for glutamic acid in the sixth codon of the globin chain. This change endows deoxyHbS, but not oxyHbS, with a new property: the capacity to polymerize. This new property reduces the pliability of the red cell, an indispensable property to navigate the ...

X-ray crystallography has played a key role in understanding the relationship between protein structure and physiological function. In particular, X-ray analysis of hemoglobin (Hb) crystals has been pivotal in the formulation of basic theories concerning the behavior of alloste ...

In recent years, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has become a reference method for the study of hemoglobin (Hb) abnormalities. This technique is used in two distinct approaches. The first is quantitative analysis of the various Hb fractions by ion-exchange HPLC, which is now ...

From a medical viewpoint, the aim of blood oxygen affinity measurement is to determine whether the oxygen binding properties of red blood cells (RBCs) are normal or not. If abnormal, there may be several reasons. One is an abnormality of the hemoglobin (Hb) itself. A second, more frequent reason, is a met ...

Hemoglobin (Hb) is a tetrameric protein (mol wt = 64,500) and is the major protein component of red blood cells (RBCs). In normal human erythrocytes, HbA composes about 90% of the total Hb. It is made up of two identical α-chains and two identical β-chains. Besides HbA, human erythrocytes contain small amou ...