AUTHOR=Lima Victor Vitorino , Dela Justina Vanessa , dos Passos Rinaldo Rodrigues , Volpato Gustavo Tadeu , Souto Paula Cristina S. , San Martin Sebastian , Giachini Fernanda Regina 

TITLE=O-GlcNAc Modification During Pregnancy: Focus on Placental Environment

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2018

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2018.01263

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2018.01263

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=Successful placentation is a key event to allow fetal development, which starts after embryo implantation into the uterine wall, eliciting decidualization, placentation and remodeling of blood vessels to provide physiological exchanges between embryo-fetus and mother. Several signaling pathways are recruited to modulate such important process and specific proteins that regulate placental function are target for the glycosylation with O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) or O-GlcNAcylation. This is a reversible posttranslational modification on nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins, mainly controlled by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA). O-GlcNAcylation has been implicated as a modulator of proteins both in physiological and pathological conditions and more recently, O-GlcNAc was shown to be an important modulator in placental tissue. On this mini-review article, the interplay between O-GlcNAcylation of proteins and placental function will be addressed, discussing possible implications of this posttranslational modification through placental develop and pregnancy.