SLC41A1 is the only magnesium responsive gene significantly overexpressed in placentas of preeclamptic women

Abstract

Objective: To examine expression profile of magnesium responsive genes (MRGs) in placentas of normoevolutive and preeclamptic women. Methods: The expression profiles of MRGs were determined in placentas of normoevolutive (N = 26) and preeclamptic (N = 25) women by RT-qPCR. Results: Among all tested MRGs (9) only SLC41A1 (encoding for Na⁺/Mg²⁺ exchanger) was significantly overexpressed in ∼54.2% of preeclamptic (n = 24) and in ∼9.5% of normoevolutive (n = 21) specimens. On average, SLC41A1 was overexpressed sixfold in the preeclamptic group. Presence of SLC41A1 in placentas was confirmed by Western blot analysis. Conclusion. SLC41A1 is significantly overexpressed in nearly 55% of preeclamptic placentas. This may indicate a direct contribution of changed Mg homeostasis in the development of preeclampsia.

• Magnesium
• Na⁺/Mg²⁺ exchanger
• Overexpression
• Preeclampsia
• RT-qPCR.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are thankful to Martin Marak and Katharina Wolf (both FU Berlin) for competent technical support of the project, to Dr. Theresa Jones for linguistic corrections and to Dr. Carolin Deiner (FU Berlin) for helpful advices and manuscript revision.

Contributions

MK, FGR and JV designed the project; MK, CGH, GS, SJ, KK, FVA, NA, MRM and SV performed material sampling, processing and experimental procedures; MK, CGH, FGR, JRA and JV analyzed the data; MK, CGH and JV wrote the manuscript.

Notes

^†Abbreviations and Gene names: MRGs (magnesium responsive genes), SLC41A1/A2/A3 (solute carrier family 41 member A1/A2 and A3), CNNM2 (cyclin M2, syn. ACDP2 ancient domain protein family member 2), MAGT1 (magnesium transporter 1), NIPA1 (non-imprinted in Prader–Willi/Angelman syndrome region protein 1), TRPM6/7 (transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 6 and 7), N33 (syn. TUSC3 tumor suppressor candidate 3), GED (Gene Expression's CT Difference), RT-qPCR (real-time quantitative PCR).