The human selenoproteome is comprised of ~25 genes, which incorporate selenium, in the form of selenocysteine, into their structure. Since it is well known that selenium is important to maternal health and foetal development during pregnancy, this study aimed at defining the impact of selenium deficiency on maternal, placental, foetal and offspring selenoprotein gene expression. Female C57BL/6 mice were randomly allocated to control (>190 μg/kg) or low selenium (<50 μg/kg) diets four weeks prior to mating and throughout gestation. At embryonic day (E)18.5, pregnant mice were sacrificed followed by collection of maternal and foetal tissues. A subset of mice littered down, and offspring were monitored from postnatal day (PN) 8, weaned at PN24 and sacrificed at PN180, followed by tissue collection. Following RNA extraction, the expression of 14 selenoproteins was assessed with qPCR in liver, kidneys, muscle and placenta. Selenium deficiency downregulated expression (Ptrt < 0.05) of many selenoproteins in maternal tissues and the placenta. However, foetal selenoprotein expression was upregulated (Ptrt < 0.05) in all tissues, especially the kidneys. This was not reflected at PN180; however, a sexually dimorphic relationship in selenoprotein expression was observed in offspring. This study demonstrates the selenoproteome is sensitive to dietary selenium levels, which may be exacerbated by pregnancy. We concluded that transcriptional regulation of selenoproteins is complex and multifaceted, with expression exhibiting tissue-, age- and sex-specificities.
Keywords: DOHaD; gene expression; nutrients; pregnancy; reproduction; selenium.