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

胎儿在怀孕的最后几天发育出矿化的骨骼。然而，矿物运输的分子机制尚不清楚。在试图鉴定胎儿骨形成过程中母胎矿物质运输的分子过程中，我发现TRPM6是一个候选的矿物质进入途径。TRPM6主要定位于胎盘卵黄囊，被认为是母胎矿物质运输的地方，在妊娠的最后4天，其表达显著增加，与小鼠胎儿骨形成的时间一致。此外，在人类胎盘滋养细胞衍生的细胞系中观察到trpm6样活性。这些结果表明，TRPM6在母胎矿物质运输中发挥重要作用，以维持胎儿骨形成。

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.