THE PLACENTA AND PROTEIN METABOLISM

The Placenta and Protein Metabolism

Plasma proteins tagged in vivo by feeding D-L-lysine-epsilon-C(14) to donor dogs have been administered to pregnant dogs by both oral and intravenous routes. A relatively small percentage of the C(14) activity originally incorporated in these proteins is found to pass from mother to fetus after intravenous injection. The amount transferred tends to increase with the length of gestation period a...

Sex Steroid Metabolism in the Placenta and the Breast

The biosynthesis and metabolism of sex steroids are controlled by a series of steroidogenic enzymes. In the placenta and the breast, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (3β-HSD1) is essential for the synthesis of all steroid hormones by catalyzing pregnenolone to progesterone (P) or dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to androstenedione (A-dione). P450 aromatase (P450arom) converts androgens to es...

Expression and Distribution of Calcium-Binding Protein S100P in Human Placenta during Pregnancy

Enzymology and regulation of xenobiotic and steroid metabolism in placenta.

(Petters et al., 1983) permits the determination of small amounts of 7-aminoclonazepam (about 20 pmol) and is thus useful for measuring low activities in various tissues. All investigated foetal livers catalysed the nitroreduction reaction at different rates. The mean activity was in the same range as that in Rhesus monkey liver, but only about 15% of the activity in human adult liver. Such dis...

Ca2+-binding protein of the human placenta

The Ca2+-binding protein (HCaBP) of the human placenta was studied with respect to its biochemical properties, tissue and cellular distribution, and possible involvement in placental Ca2+ transport. Optimal Ca2+ binding by the HCaBP occurs at pH7-8 and in I00mM-Na+ and 3mM-Ca2+. The HCaBP possesses at least 10 Ca2+-binding sites with a Kd of 5 x 10-6M ([Ca2+]). Highly specific rabbit-derived an...