Identification of proteins with altered expression in female Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein‐A knockout mouse embryos

Abstract

Our research examines the insulin‐like growth factor (IGF) signaling network. Pregnancy Associated Plasma Protein‐A (PAPP‐A), cleaves the Insulin‐like growth factor binding protein – 4 ability to sequester IGFs. We have examined the effects of PAPP‐A on protein expression in 18 day post‐conception mice embryos in a wild type/PAPP‐A knockout model. We have used 2‐D gel electrophoresis and proteomics technologies to examine protein expression differences between the knockout and wild‐type embryos. Three female wild‐type/knock out pairs were examined. Three successful trials were run for each of the embryo samples resulting in significant, reproducible results for each. The images from the wild‐type and knock out samples were compared in order to identify protein expression differences. Comparison of the wild‐type and knock out gels resulted in the identification of 6 protein spots out of 3500 total spots which showed significant change in protein expression. We have identified the proteins found in each of these 6 spots.