Human Papillomavirus E6/E7 Expression in Preeclampsia-Affected Placentae.

Whether HPV is causative of pregnancy complications is uncertain. E6 and E7 affect functions underling preeclampsia (PET) in cultured trophoblasts, but whether E6 and E7 is produced in the placenta is uncertain. Here, we investigated whether E6/E7 was expressed in the placentae from pregnancies with PET, other pregnancy complications (fetal growth restriction (FGR) and diabetes mellitus), and uncomplicated pregnancies. Placental tissues collected from two geographical locations were subjected to RNAscope analyses of high- and low- risk E6/E7, and individual HPV types identified using an HPV array. High-risk E6/E7 expression was increased in both PET cohorts, (81% and 86% of patients positive for high-risk HPV DNA compared to 13% of control patients). Various HPV types were identified. Although HPV 18 was the most frequent in all cohorts, the majority of individuals had multiple HPV types (55% of the PET compared to 25% of the control cohort). Further evidence that E6 and E7 is present early when placental pathology underlying preeclampsia is established, is provided with the finding of high-risk E6/E7 in the first-trimester placenta anchoring trophoblast. In conclusion, E6/E7 expression and multiple HPV types were frequent in placentae from preeclampsia-complicated pregnancies.

Transcriptomic characterisation of neuropeptides and their putative cognate G protein-coupled receptors during late embryo and stage-1 juvenile development of the Aotearoa-New Zealand crayfish, Paranephrops zealandicus.

We de novo assembled a transcriptome for early life-stages of the Aotearoa-New Zealand crayfish, Paranephrops zealandicus, establishing the first genetic resource for this under-developed aquaculture species and for the Paranephrops genus. Mining of this transcriptome for neuropeptides and their putative cognate G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) yielded a comprehensive catalogue of neuropeptides, but few putative neuropeptide GPCRs. Of the neuropeptides commonly identified from decapod transcriptomes, only crustacean female sex hormone and insulin-like peptide were absent from our trinity de novo transcriptome assembly, and also RNA-sequence reads. We identified 63 putative neuropeptide precursors from 43 families, predicted to yield 122 active peptides. Transcripts encoding 26 putative neuropeptide GPCRs were identified but were often incomplete. Putative GPCRs for 15 of the neuropeptides identified here were absent from our transcriptome and RNAseq reads. These data highlight the diverse neuropeptide systems already present at the early development life stages sampled here for P. zealandicus.