Placental Expression of NEMO Protein in Normal Pregnancy and Preeclampsia

Figure 5

Relationship between the nuclear fraction of NEMO and NFκB in healthy and preeclamptic pregnancies. Red line—hypothetical changes in the NEMO protein level during gestation without any complications. Yellow line—hypothetical changes in the NEMO protein level during gestation complicated by preeclampsia. Blue line—changes in the NFκB protein level during gestation without any complications. Grey line—changes in the NFκB protein level during gestation complicated by preeclampsia. At the beginning of pregnancy, the activity of NFκB is high, and the nuclear level of the NEMO protein may be low, to open the implantation window. The transcriptional activity of NFκB decreases over the course of a pregnancy to allow it to continue, in the same time the NEMO content of the nuclear fraction should be high to additionally repress the NFκB activity in the nucleus. In the third trimester of noncomplicated pregnancy, the nuclear activity of NFκB again increases to prepare the maternal organism for delivery, therefore the NEMO protein level in the nucleus should decrease.