Regulation of IkappaB Protein Expression by Early Gestation in the Thymus of Ewes

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The thymus is implicated in central immune tolerance and plays essential roles during normal pregnancy. The inhibitor of the NF-κB (IκB) family is a key component of the NF-κB pathway; however, the modulation of the κB family in the maternal thymus by early gestation has not been fully understood. It has been found that there changes in the expression of the IκB family in the maternal thymus take place during early pregnancy, suggesting that IκB proteins are involved in modulating immunologic tolerance and pregnancy establishment. ABSTRACT: The thymus is an essential component of maternal immune systems that play key roles in recognizing the placenta as immunologically foreign. The inhibitor of the NF-κB (IκB) family has essential effects on the NF-κB pathway; however, it is unclear whether early pregnancy modulates the expression of the IκB family in the thymus. In this study, maternal thymuses were sampled on day 16 of nonpregnancy and different gestation stages in the ovine, and the expression of IκB proteins was analyzed. The data showed that B cell leukemia-3 and IκBβ increased; however, IκBα, IκBε, and IKKγ deceased during gestation. Furthermore, there was an increase in IκBNS and IκBζ expression values on day 13 of pregnancy; however, this decreased on day 25 of gestation. In summary, the expression of the IκB family was modulated in the thymus during early gestation, suggesting that the maternal thymus can be associated with maternal immunologic tolerance and pregnancy establishment in ewes.