Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (PEPCK) has been shown to be present in plants and animals, playing different metabolic roles in different tissues. The basic role of this enzyme is its contribution in the gluconeogenesis pathway. Evidences have shown that PEPCK may play a role in metabolism of nitrogenous compounds in developing seeds of legumes. In this research, pepck gene expression and the occurrence of PEPCK protein and its activity in different genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinume L.) were determined. Two low protein genotypes (MCC291 & MCC373) and two high protein genotypes (MCC458 & MCC053) out of 20 chickpea genotypes were selected, from which the total RNA was extracted through different stages of seed development. The expression of chickpea pepck gene was estimated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The results of RT-PCR showed that two isoforms of this gene were expressed in high protein genotypes, whereas in the low protein genotypes were not expressed. The differential expression of pepck gene is perhaps related to the possible role of Phosphoenolpyrovate Carboxykinase in protein content of chickpea seeds.

2Background: Considering the importance of exercise in the prevention and treatment of diseases related to obesity the objective of this experimental study was to determine the effect of six weeks of intensive interval training on PEPCK expression in liver tissue, glucose and insulin and insulin resistance in obese rats with type 2 diabetes and compared with non-diabetic obese group. Methods: 28 male Wistar rats aged 10 weeks (220 ± 20 g) were obesed by six weeks of high-fat diet (HFD). Then type 2 diabetes was induced in 14 rats by intraperitoneal injection of STZ (30 mg/kg). Finally, the studied rats were divided into 4 groups (n= 7): 1) control obese, 2) interval obese, 3) control obese diabetic, 4) interval obese diabetic. Interval groups participated in an interval exercise program of five sessions per week for six weeks consists of 10 repetitions of a 40-second run on the treadmill with 2-minute rest (active rest) between repetitions. Finally, 48 hours after the last session, the fasting levels of glucose, insulin, PEPCK expression in liver tissue were measured and compared by two-way ANOVA. Results: Compared with control groups, interval training in diabetic and obese rats resulted in significant decrease of fasting glucose (P= 0. 001). Interval training also led to an increase in serum insulin compared to the diabetic control group (P= 0. 006) and a decrease in PEPCK expression compared to the diabetic control group (P= 0. 005). Conclusion: Improved glucose response to interval training in type 2 diabetic rats may be rooted in increase insulin with decrease in hepatic PEPCK expression. Measurement of activity or expression of other liver enzymes is suggested for general conclusion

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) catalyzes the first step of the gluconeogenesis cycle. There are two isozymes forms of this enzyme, cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-C) and mitochondrial phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-M) which present in mitochondria and cytoplasm Current research has been conducted to identify the allelic polymorphism in the PEPCK-M gene in breeder hens of native fowls and commercial broiler and layer chickens. Blood samples were collected randomly from 150 birds of three strains and DNA was extracted using modified salting out method. A fragment of 401 bp in length was amplified from exon 9 of PEPCK-M gene. For genotyping of each sample the PCR products were digested by AccI restriction enzyme. The frequency of AccI- and AccI+allele was estimated at 0.73 and 0.27 in native fowls population, 0.6 and 0.4 in broiler and 0.85 and 0.15 in layer lines, respectively. Two genotypes of AccI -/- and AccI -/+were observed with the frequency of 0.46 and 0.54 in native fowls, 0.20 and 0.80 in broiler line and 0.70 and 0.30 in commercial layer line, respectively. The comparison of allelic frequency showed no statistical differences between native fowls population with broiler and layer lines, but this results indicated significantly differences between broiler and layer lines (P<0.05).The comparison of genotypic frequency showed that there were significant differences between three populations (P<0.05). No any AccI+/+genotype was detected in the genotyped samples. The difference in genotypic distribution may be as a consequence of different selection strategies used in these populations.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the polymorphism of prolactin promoter and cytosolic phosphoenol pyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK-C) intron 3 to exon 3 regions, and its association with economic traits in native fowl of Yazd province. These traits consisted of body weight at 8 (BW8) and 12 (BW12) weeks of age, age at sexual maturity (ASM), weight at sexual maturity (WSM), mean egg weight at 28, 30, and 32 weeks (MEW), and the number of eggs during the first 12 weeks of laying period (EN). Blood samples were collected from 159 pedigreed fowl at native fowl breeding center of Yazd province, and DNA was extracted from the samples according to saltingout protocol. PCR amplification together with restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to identify different genotypes of prolactin and PEPCK-C genes. The effect of prolactin genotypes on economic traits was analyzed using general linear model. A 24- bp indel (insertion or deletion) at nucleotide position (np) 358 was identified, but no polymorphism was found for PEPCK-C. Based on our results, the frequency of I and D alleles were 0.761 and 0.239, respectively. Frequencies of II, ID and DD genotypes were 0.566, 0.389 and 0.044, respectively. Genotypes II and ID were significantly associated with incresased EN (P<0.01). Meanwhile, the genotypes of the 24-bp indel site were not significantly associated with BW8, BW12, ASM, WSM and MEW (P> 0.05). The results of current study showed that using information of genes related to egg production could be used to improve the performance of native fowl of Yazd province.

Background: Recent advancement on experiment concluded that etiology of pre-eclampsia (PE) could be explained by the "two-stage" theory. The theory of which explained that pre-eclampsia occurs due to abnormalities in spiral arteries development and release of inflammatory response. Failure of spiral arteries development, the lesion of damage could be due to ischemia-reperfusion or hypoxia-reoxygenation. Hypoxia in pre-eclamptic placenta leads to metabolic change to anaerobic in glycolysis. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) has important role in anaerobic glycolysis that catalyzes the conversion of lactate to pyruvate during hypoxia. On the other hand, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxy kinase (PEPCK) is merely an enzyme of gluconeogenesis. This research conduct to reveal that in early onset pre-eclampsia the placenta still hypoxic and undergoes gluconeogenesis even after delivery, through metabolic enzyme of LDH and PEPCK level. Methods: This cross-sectional study compared early onset PE (< 34 weeks) with normal term placenta. We measured LDH enzyme activity using colorimetric assay and PEPCK protein using ELISA method. Results: Result show that placental LDH specific activity was increased significantly in PE with median 2. 750 (0. 030-5. 680) U/mg compared to normal term placenta 0. 255 (0. 032 –,1. 194) U/mg (Mann-Whitney, p< 0. 001). PEPCK level was significantly increased in PE 8. 998 (1. 737-44. 914) ng/mg compared to normal term placenta 1. 552 (0. 741-8. 832) ng/mg (Mann-Whitney, p< 0. 001). Conclusions: We conclude that anaerobic glycolysis and gluconeogenesis pathway are increased in early onset PE placenta as adaptation mechanism to hypoxic condition.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected public health problem in developing countries including Iran. CL is caused by different species of Leishmania parasites and results in morbidity and complications in patients with active lesions. Since protozoa are intracellular parasites, cellular immunity plays an essential role in controlling the infection. Cellular immunity is induced immediately after the infection and persists for many years after recovery. Studies over the past decades have identified the important role of CD4+ T cells and their T-helper subtypes in the immune response to CL. Finding antigens capable of producing Th1-dominant immune responses can play an effective role in preventing CL. This study examines the protective role of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), a critical enzyme for protozoan survival and reproduction. The potential of targeting PEPCK for the development of novel prevention strategies against Chagas disease is explored. Detailed findings presented herein underscore the critical role of PEPCK as an immunogenic antigen in parasite metabolism, gluconeogenesis, and energy homeostasis. Notably, the elimination of PEPCK alters parasite metabolic activity and attenuates Leishmania pathogenicity. These results position PEPCK as a promising vaccine candidate and therapeutic target for CL, pending further validation.Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected public health problem in developing countries including Iran. CL is caused by different species of Leishmania parasites and results in morbidity and complications in patients with active lesions. Since protozoa are intracellular parasites, cellular immunity plays an essential role in controlling the infection. Cellular immunity is induced immediately after the infection and persists for many years after recovery. Studies over the past decades have identified the important role of CD4+ T cells and their T-helper subtypes in the immune response to CL. Finding antigens capable of producing Th1-dominant immune responses can play an effective role in preventing CL. This study examines the protective role of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), a critical enzyme for protozoan survival and reproduction. The potential of targeting PEPCK for the development of novel prevention strategies against Chagas disease is explored. Detailed findings presented herein underscore the critical role of PEPCK as an immunogenic antigen in parasite metabolism, gluconeogenesis, and energy homeostasis. Notably, the elimination of PEPCK alters parasite metabolic activity and attenuates Leishmania pathogenicity. These results position PEPCK as a promising vaccine candidate and therapeutic target for CL, pending further validation.

A gene of interest in this study is phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (pepck), encoding a protein with a substantial role in the gluconeogenesis pathway and in metabolism of nitrogenous compounds in developing seeds of legumes, including amides and ureides which are then transformed into amino acids necessary for the synthesis of storage proteins. Whereas studies on genes contributing to the seed filling in chickpea and its protein content might be valuable in engineering plants with seeds of a higher nutritional value. In order to investigate pepck gene expression in different genotypes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), four genotypes of chickpea were studied by Real-time PCR and western blot techniques. So results show that pepck expresses in high protein genotypes more than low protein genotypes at different growth stages and there was a differential expression of pepck gene at different stages of flowering and seed development. The PEPCK was expressed at higher levels during the shoot formation and in developing seeds compared to the flowering and seed formation stages.