Changes in Transcription Pattern Lead to a Marked Decrease in COX, CS and SQR Activity After the Developmental Point of the 22nd Gestational Week

Abstract

Tissue differentiation and proliferation throughout fetal development interconnect with changes in the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS) on the cellular level. Reevaluation of the expression data revealed a significant increase in COX4 and MTATP6 liver transcription levels after the 22nd gestational week (GW) which inspired us to characterize its functional impact. Specific activities of cytochrome c oxidase (COX), citrate synthase (CS), succinate-coenzyme Q reductase (SQR) and mtDNA determined by spectrophotometry and RT-PCR were studied in a set of 25 liver and 18 skeletal muscle samples at 13th to 29th GW. Additionally, liver hematopoiesis (LH) was surveyed by light microscopy. The mtDNA content positively correlated with the gestational age only in the liver. The activities of COX, CS and SQR in both liver and muscle isolated mitochondria significantly decreased after the 22nd GW in comparison with earlier GW. A continuous decline of LH, not correlating with the documented OXPHOS-specific activities, was observed from the 14th to the 24th GW indicating their exclusive reflection of liver tissue processes. Two apparently contradictory processes of increasing mtDNA transcription and decreasing OXPHOS-specific activities seem to be indispensable for rapid postnatal adaptation to high energy demands. The inadequate capacity of mitochondrial energy production may be an important factor in the mortality of children born before the critical developmental point of the 22nd GW.

Time and Dose-Dependent Effects of Viscum Album Quercus on Rabbit Spermatozoa Motility and Viability in Vitro

“…Researchers are unanimous about the negative impact of various factors on male reproduction and cell/spermatozoa quality (Burton 2013, Petrovova et al 2014, Kolarova et al 2017. The mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extract has been shown to be an effective complementary drug in the treatment of cancer patients after surgical removal of the primary tumor.…”

Microarray and qPCR Analysis of Mitochondrial Metabolism Activation during Prenatal and Early Postnatal Development in Rats and Humans with Emphasis on CoQ10 Biosynthesis

“…Mitochondrial biogenesis was studied extensively in a number of models, including mice and rats, but mostly postnatally [ 5 , 30 , 31 , 49 , 50 , 51 ]. Later, selected proteins were also studied in human foetal liver and skeletal muscle [ 9 , 35 ]. This work builds upon our pilot study [ 33 ] using a broad microarray dataset from the perinatal period to illustrate the orchestration of the mitochondrial metabolic response at the transcriptional level.…”

“…The foetal gestational age varied mainly from 13 to 29 weeks. The same set of liver and muscle samples was used for our previous analyses [ 9 , 35 ]. For CoQ 10 content analyses in human, the control liver samples were obtained at autopsy of 7 children at ages between 0 and 15 months.…”

The critical role of cardiolipin in metazoan differentiation, development, and maturation

“…During the development of a mammalian embryo, changes occur in both mitochondrial structure 97,98 and function. [99][100][101][102][103] Clues to the potentially critical roles of mitochondria during prenatal development and embryogenesis also come from numerous studies of their critical roles in the cellular differentiation and fate of stem cells (see review 104 ). More than "just" energy generators, mitochondria are active metabolic signaling organelles, and the mechanisms by which mitochondria control stem cell fate involve ROS, calcium signaling, tricarboxylic acid cycle metabolites, the NAD+/NADH ratio, pyruvate metabolism, and mitochondrial dynamics (i.e., fission and fusion).…”

“…As extremely “plastic” organelles, 96 their form and function are tissue‐specific and may even vary within cells. During the development of a mammalian embryo, changes occur in both mitochondrial structure 97,98 and function 99‐103 . Clues to the potentially critical roles of mitochondria during prenatal development and embryogenesis also come from numerous studies of their critical roles in the cellular differentiation and fate of stem cells (see review 104 ).…”