Molecular Human Reproduction, Vol. 6, No. 6, 535-540,
June 2000
© 2000 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Pregnancy |
HLA-G expression in extravillous trophoblasts is an intrinsic property of cell differentiation: a lesson learned from ectopic pregnancies
1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and 2 Department of Pathology Hadassah University Hospital, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, 91240, Israel. E-mail: syagel{at}yam-suff.huji.ac.il
Abstract
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G is a major histocompatibility gene expressed almost exclusively in extravillous trophoblasts at the fetal–maternal interface. HLA-G may play a role in protecting the fetus from attack by the maternal natural killer cells. The extravillous trophoblasts invade the decidua and maternal spiral arteries. The factors which regulate the cell-specific expression of HLA-G are unknown. In this study we asked if HLA-G is expressed in extravillous trophoblasts that develop outside of their normal cellular environment, as in the case of ectopic pregnancies. Since all ectopic pregnancies implant in the absence of underlying decidua we also used a placenta accreta as an experimental control. We found that HLA-G mRNA and protein were expressed in the extravillous trophoblasts in the 13 ectopic specimens studied. In a case of placenta accreta (which develops without decidua basalis and is therefore adherent to the underlying myometrium), HLA-G mRNA and protein were also expressed. These results suggest that HLA-G expression is induced in a cell autonomous manner rather than determined by appropriate environmental cues.
ectopic pregnancy/HLA-G/placenta/placenta accreta/trophoblast
Notes
3 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hebrew University Hadassah Hospital, Mt Scopus, POB 24035, Jerusalem, Israel 91240. E-mail: syagel{at}yam-suff.huji.ac.il
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