Molecular Mechanism of the maternal-fetal mineral transport for fetal bone mineralization

胎儿在怀孕的最后几天会发育成矿化的骨骼。然而，矿物质转运的分子机制仍不清楚。为了对胎骨形成过程中母胎矿物质转运进行分子鉴定，我发现TRPM6是矿物质进入的候选途径。TRPM6主要定位于胎盘内卵黄囊内，被认为是母胎矿物质转运的场所，在妊娠的最后4天其表达显著增加，这与小鼠胎儿骨的形成相一致。此外，在人胎盘滋养层细胞系中观察到TRPM6样活性。这些结果表明，TRPM6在母胎矿物质转运中起着重要作用，以维持胎儿的骨形成。

Fetus develops mineralized bones during very last days of pregnancy. However, the molecular mechanism of the mineral transport has still been unclear. In an attempt to the molecular identification of the maternal-fetal mineral transport during fetal bone formation, I found TRPM6 as a candidate mineral entry pathway. TRPM6 was mainly localized in the intraplacental yolk sac, which is thought to be the place for the maternal-fetal mineral transport, and its expression was significantly increased during the last 4 days of pregnancy, which coincides with the fetal bone formation in mice. Moreover, TRPM6-like activity was observed in a cell line derived from human placental trophoblasts. These results suggest that TRPM6 plays an important role in the maternal-fetal mineral transport in order to sustain fetal bone formation.