Nestin is highly expressed in foetal spinal cord isolated from placenta previa patients and promotes inflammation by enhancing NF-κB activity

Purpose: Nestin is expressed in various tissues of the embryo in patients with placenta previa, while the regulatory mechanism still unknown.

Materials and methods: All participants terminated pregnancy. Among them, 75 patients with placenta previa were assigned to the case group and 80 healthy pregnant women with normal placenta were assigned to the control group. Expression of nestin and CDK5 in foetal spinal cord tissues was detected by Western blot and quantitative real-time RT-PCR methods. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the serum expression of some pro-inflammatory cytokines in placenta previa patients. The interaction between nestin and CDK5 was evaluated by immunoprecipitation and siRNA inhibition of nestin was performed to estimate its effect on NF-κB activity in foetal spinal cord tissues.

Results: Along with increased expression of nestin and CDK5 in foetal spinal cord tissues in the case group, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and IFN-γ were increased in the serum of placenta previa patients. siRNA inhibition analysis indicated that nestin interacted with CDK5 and regulated NF-κB activity in foetal spinal cord tissues.

Conclusions: Nestin is highly expressed and the interaction between nestin and CDK5 might lead to the progress of placenta previa through its regulation on NF-κB.