Placenta‐specific 1 regulates oocyte meiosis and fertilization through furin

What is it about?

Placenta-specific 1 (Plac1) is found to be essential for placentation, and abnormal Plac1 expression and distribution is highly correlated with preeclampsia and implantation failure in human. So briefly Plac1 abnormality will substantially affect reproduction in the woman. But none knows whether it affect oocyte maturation as well. If Plac1 affect not only placentation but also oocyte maturation (even subsequent fertilization), its abnormality could cause the even worse reproductive problems than researchers have known. In this study, using house mouse oocytes as a model, we specifically depleted Plac1, and did find Plac1 severely disrupted oocyte maturation and subsequent fertilization. And we have shown that Plac1 regulate oocyte maturation and subsequent fertilization through there proteins - furin, IGF1R, and Akt, which have been shown to be essential for regular reproduction process in the woman. In summary, our finding suggests that Plac1, a protein crucial for placentation, is also essential for oocyte meiosis and fertilization. The clinical significance of this study is, a patient with plac1 abnormality should also be aware of the oocyte quality in addition to the placentation problem before considering getting pregnant.

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