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Unexpected Expression of Glucose Transporter 4 in Villous Stromal Cells of Human Placenta¹

CNRS-UPR 1524 (A.Y.X., M.C., J.G., S.H.M.), 92190 Meudon-Bellevue, France; Université Pierre et Marie Curie (J.C.C.), Physiopathologie de l’Implantation et du Developpement, UPRESA 2396, 75005 Paris, France; Hôpital Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (J.L.), Service de Gynécologie Obstétrique, 75014 Paris, France; and Department of Biochemistry (M.J.C.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: S. Hauguel-de Mouzon, CNRS-UPR 1524, 9 rue Jules Hetzel, Meudon-Bellevue, France. E-mail: shm{at}infobiogen.fr

Glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) protein expression was characterized in human and rodent term placentas. A 50-kDa protein was detected, by immunoblotting, in term human placenta at levels averaging 25% of those found in white adipose tissue. It was also present, albeit at lower levels, in mouse and rat placentas. The specificity of the 50-kDa signal was established by using skeletal muscle and placental tissues obtained from GLUT4-null mice as controls. Indirect immunohistochemistry, performed in human placentas, showed that intravillous stromal cells were conspicuously labeled by GLUT4 and revealed colocalization of GLUT4 transporters with insulin receptors. This study provides the first evidence that the insulin-responsive GLUT4 glucose transporter is present in human and rodent hemochorial placentas. Placental GLUT4 gene and protein levels were not modified in human pregnancy complicated by insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The significance of the high level of GLUT4 protein in human placenta remains to be elucidated, because, so far, this organ was not considered to be insulin-sensitive, with regard to glucose transport.

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