Browsing by Author "Sealey, Amy Lynn"

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Loss of the murine TATA-binding protein N terminus leads to placental labyrinth defects but not maternal adaptive immune responses
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2007) Sealey, Amy Lynn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Edward E. Schmidt.
The TATA-binding protein (TBP) is a component of the basal transcription machinery. The TBP C-terminal core is conserved in all eukaryotes, but the N terminal region is shared between vertebrates. To study this, we generated a mouse line lacking 111 of the 135 amino acids of the vertebrate-specific sequence. The mutant tbp allele was designated tbp?N, and the majority of homozygous mutants, tbp?N/?N, died at midgestation due to defects in the placenta. Previous studies in our laboratory showed that tbp?N/?N fetuses survived the midgestational crisis if the mother was severely immunocompromised or if mutant fetuses were supplied tbp+/+ placentas. From these data, we hypothesized that the TBP N terminus regulates placental activity that is required for tolerizing the maternal immune system to the conceptus. Recent histological analysis of embryonic day 8.5 (E8.5) to E12.5 placentas in immune wildtype mothers revealed that the tbp?N/?N placental vascular region, or labyrinth, does not develop.