Evolutionary dynamics of PEG10 and its interacting proteins during early and late-stage placental development in ruminants

Ruminants play a crucial role in dairy farming, pharmaceuticals, and embryonic stem cell research; thus, it is vital to prevent pregnancy loss and improve reproductive outcomes through a better understanding of placental development. Paternally-expressed gene 10 (PEG10) is a conserved gene essential for placental development in mammals, but its function in ruminants is not well understood. To develop insights into its role in placental development, this study investigated the gene structure and expression of PEG10 in cattle and goats. We found that PEG10's structure was conserved across species, and in the placenta, it retained the ability to bind to its own mRNA. Transcript analysis revealed differential expression patterns of PEG10 at early and late stages of placental development. We identified 70 proteins potentially interacting with PEG10 that were involved in biological processes like metabolism, signal transduction, cell proliferation, and immune responses. These proteins were grouped into seven clusters, associated with pathways such as amino acid degradation, the TCA cycle, longevity regulation, cardiomyopathy, proteasome function, and biosynthesis. Our findings suggest that PEG10 regulates placental development in ruminants by interacting with key proteins like CAST, ITGA6, and FTL, which are responsible for critical cellular processes in placental function.