Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rsci

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Xiao, D.
Right arrow Articles by Zhang, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Journal of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation, Vol. 7, No. 5, 279-283 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/107155760000700502

Chronic Hypoxia and Developmental Regulation of Cytochrome C Expression in Rats

DaLiao Xiao, MS

Charles A. Ducsay, PhD

Center for Perinatal Biology, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California

Lubo Zhang, PhD

Center for Perinatal Biology, Department of Pharmacology, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California; lzhang{at}som.llu.edu

Objective: To test the hypothesis that chronic hypoxia upregulates cytochrome c expression in heart, brain, and liver of fetal and maternal rats.

Methods: Time-dated pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into normoxic and hypoxic (48 hours of 10.5% oxygen from days 19 to 21) groups, and were killed on day 21. Tissue levels of cytochrome c in heart, brain, and liver were determined by using monoclonal antiserum for cytochrome c.

Results: Chronic hypoxia caused a decrease in fetal body weight (5.3 ± 0.1 to 4.7 ± 0.1 g) and an increase in heart/body weight ratio (0.0048 ± 0.0001 to 0.0061 ± 0.0002). Cytochrome c levels were 4-, 2.6-, and 13-fold higher in heart, liver, and brain, respectively, of the mother than of the fetus. Chronic hypoxia did not change cytochrome c levels in maternal tissues but caused a 70% increase and 54% decrease in cytochrome c levels in the fetal heart and liver, respectively. No difference was observed in the fetal brain.

Conclusions: The results suggest that expression of cytochrome c is tissue specific and developmentally regulated. Chronic hypoxia showed differential regulation of cytochrome c levels both developmentally and tissue specifically. The increased sensitivity of cytochrome c in fetal tissue to chronic hypoxia is likely to represent a fetal adaptive mechanism to the stress of chronic hypoxia.

Key Words: Mitochondria • adaptation • fetus • heart


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?