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Do glucose transporters have other roles in addition to placental glucose transport during early pregnancy?

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Abstract

Human placenta regulates the transport of maternal molecules to the fetus. It is known that glucose transport occurs via glucose transporters (GLUTs) in the feto–placental unit. Data on the expression of GLUTs during implantation are very scarce. Moreover, the question of how the decidual leukocytes obtain the energy for their activation during implantation mechanism is still under investigation. We studied the distributions of GLUT1, GLUT3, and GLUT4 in tissue sections of first trimester pregnancies the human maternal–fetal interface. GLUT1 was present in apical microvilli of the syncytiotrophoblast, in cytotrophoblast, and in vascular patterns of the villous core, whereas GLUT3 was localized in cytotrophoblasts of placental villi and in some fetal endothelial cells. Moreover, the proliferating cells of the proximal cell columns were also immunopositive for GLUT1 and GLUT3. We did not observe any positive immunoreactivity for GLUT4 in placental and decidual tissues. Essentially, GLUT3 and also to some extent GLUT1 was present in maternal leukocytes and platelets. In conclusion, our results suggest that the glucose taken up via GLUT1 and GLUT3 from the maternal circulation might not only be needed for placental functions but also for successful implantation by trophoblast invasion, proliferation and also by having a role to support energy for maternal leukocytes.

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Acknowledgements

This study is supported by the Research Fund of Akdeniz University, (21.01.0122.02) Antalya, Turkey. We would like to thank Sibel Ozer for her excellent technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histology and Embryology, Medical Faculty, Akdeniz University, 07070, Antalya, Turkey

    Emin Turkay Korgun, Ciler Celik-Ozenci, Yasemin Seval & Ramazan Demir

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Graz, 8036, Graz, Austria

    Gernot Desoye

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  1. Emin Turkay Korgun
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  2. Ciler Celik-Ozenci
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  3. Yasemin Seval
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  4. Gernot Desoye
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  5. Ramazan Demir
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Correspondence to Emin Turkay Korgun.

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Korgun, E.T., Celik-Ozenci, C., Seval, Y. et al. Do glucose transporters have other roles in addition to placental glucose transport during early pregnancy?. Histochem Cell Biol 123, 621–629 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-005-0792-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-005-0792-3

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