Lectin histochemistry for detecting cadmium-induced changes in the glycosylation pattern of rat placenta

Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is an industrial and environmental pollutant that produces toxic effects on gametogenesis, pre- and post-implantation embryos, and the placenta. Because the effects of acute Cd intoxication on the placenta are not well understood, we investigated changes in its glycosylated components in Cd treated dams at days 4, 7, 10 and 15 of gestation using lectin histochemistry. CdCl was administered to pregnant rats; control animals received sterile normal saline. Placentas were processed for DBA, Con A, SBA, PNA, UEA-I, RCA-I and WGA lectin histochemistry to evaluate changes in the carbohydrate pattern of the placenta that might modify cell interactions and contribute to embryonic alterations. Lectin binding was analyzed in the yolk sac; trophoblast giant cells; trophoblast I, II and III; spongiotrophoblast cells and endovascular trophoblast cells in the chorioallantoic placenta. Our lectin binding patterns showed that Cd caused alteration of SBA and DBA labeling of trophoblast-derived cells, which suggested increased expressions of α and β GalNAc. Cd also caused decreased UEA-1 binding affinity, which indicated fewer α-L-Fuc residues in placentas of Cd treated dams. The nonreactivity in trophoblast I of the control placentas incubated with Con-A contrasted with the labeling in placentas of experimental dams, which indicated increased expression of terminal α-D-Man, and α-D-Glc residues. We found that Cd altered the reactivity of placenta to several lectins, which indicated modification of the glycotype presented by the fetal component of the placenta. We report that Cd exerts a deleterious effect on the glycosylation pattern of the placenta.

Placental glycotype of the caviomorph rodent Lagostomus maximus and its evolution within Eutheria

“…Arachis hypogaea what was available in the bibliography (Bulmer & Peel, 1996;Díaz et al, 2017;Dorsch et al, 2019;Fernández et al, 2000Fernández et al, , 2014Fiorentino et al, 2018;Jones et al, 1995Jones et al, , 1997Jones et al, , 2007Jones et al, , 2014Jones et al, , 2016Jones & Aplin, 2009;Munson et al, 1989;Sandoval et al, 2001;Stewart et al, 2000;Sgambati et al, 2002;Tatsuzuki et al, 2009) and from our observations in L. maximus. We used a tree based on the taxon-rich and well-resolved phylogeny of Placentalia (O'Leary et al, 2013) combined with a more comprehensively sampled phylogeny of Rodentia (Fabre et al, 2015).…”

“…On the other side, the alteration in the normal expression of some glycosidic residues of the placental glycotype could affect placental homeostasis, as well as embryonic growth and development, regardless of the type of placentation. This has been observed in Rattus norvegicus through variations in α and β-GalNAc, L-Fucose, α-D-Mannose, and α-D-Glucose (Díaz et al, 2017) and Bos taurus for variations in the expression of α-D-Mannose, NeuNac, and β-Gal (Dorsch et al, 2019).…”

“…On the other side, the alteration in the normal expression of some glycosidic residues of the placental glycotype could affect placental homeostasis, as well as embryonic growth and development, regardless of the type of placentation. This has been observed in Rattus norvegicus through variations in α and β‐GalNAc, l ‐Fucose, α‐ d ‐Mannose, and α‐ d ‐Glucose (Díaz et al, 2017) and Bos taurus for variations in the expression of α‐ d ‐Mannose, NeuNac, and β‐Gal (Dorsch et al, 2019). Other sugars such as Fucose, present in a wide variety of eutherians because of the evolutionary conservation of the FUT8 gene (Aplin & Jones, 2012), could be essential for placental development.…”

Lectin binding patterns and immunohistochemical antigen detection in placenta and lungs of <i>Brucella abortus</i>-bovine infected fetuses

“…Controls for lectin staining included: exposure to horseradish-peroxidase and substrate medium without lectin and blocking by incubation with the appropriate blocking sugars (0.1 to 0.2M in PBS) for 1 h at room temperature before applying to the sections. The intensity of lectin binding was subjectively scored from (-) (none) to +++ (strongly positive) following the system used previously (Fernández et al, 2014;Díaz et al, 2017). The structures studied in the lungs were glycocalix and cytoplasm of the epithelium of bronchi, bronchioli and alveoli and vascular endothelium.…”

Selenium attenuates the cadmium‐induced placenta glucocorticoid barrier damage by up‐regulating the expression of specificity protein 1

“…[25] Consistent with previous studies, our study indicated that Cd upregulates the expression of glucocorticoids. [26] Cd not only affects the hormone expression at the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis level, but also locally affects the expression of cortisol. [27] Glucocorticoids promotes fetal lung maturity, while the high concentration of glucocorticoids enters the fetus through the placenta barrier will affects fetal growth and development.…”