Reduced Placental Regulator of G-Protein Signaling-2 (RGS2) and Preeclampsia

The early mechanisms and genetic risk factors driving the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE), a cardiovascular disorder of pregnancy, remain largely unclear. Various hormone activators of Gαq second-messenger signaling pathways have been implicated in PE. Regulator of G-protein Signaling 2 (RGS2) acts as an endogenous terminator of Gαq signaling and previous studies identified a SNP (rs4606), which results in reduced RGS2 mRNA, as a risk factor for development of PE and its sequelae. We hypothesized reduced placental expression of RGS2 may precipitate the development of PE due to disinhibited Gαq signaling. In silico reanalysis of publically available dataset GSE75010 revealed RGS2 mRNA is reduced in placentas from pre-term PE pregnancies compared to normal pre-term pregnancies (con: 8.73 ± 0.07 n=35, PE: 8.37 ± 0.055 n=49, pu003c0.05). Using human placental tissue samples from the University of Iowa Maternal-Fetal Tissue Bank, we confirmed RGS2 mRNA is reduced in PE placentas (19% of control, pu003c0.05), despite...