STUDY OF ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PROTEIN ANNEXIN A1 IN EXPLANT CULTURES OF HUMAN PLACENTAL VILOS INFECTED BY TOXOPLASMA GONDII

Abstract

Placental development includes intense invasion, differentiation and adaptation to the body. Some gestational complications are closed related to impaired development of the placenta, which includes increased expression of Th2-type cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10). This condition can lead to increased toxoplasmosis susceptibility and the placental/fetal infection. The anti-inflammatory protein annexin A1 (ANXA1), a calcium-dependent phospholipids-binding protein, is able to reduce cytokines levels and COX-2 expression. This protein also is involved in proliferative and apoptotic processes and their actions may be mediated by formylated peptides receptors (FPR). However ANXA1 activity during placental development is not fully elucidated. For these reasons and as there are no reports of expression of ANXA1 in placental infection by T. gondii, our study will, by using immunohistochemistry reactions, to analyze the expression of ANXA1, FPR2 and FPR1 receptors and COX-2 in T. gondii infected explants of placental villous of the first and third quarters. Beyond that we will perform ELISA to the prostaglandin 2 (PGD2) expression and PCR to PGD2 and COX-2 gene expression in placental explants. The elucidation of the ANXA1 actions in this context is important because it may contributes to the understanding of their roles in infectious process.