title: Apoptosis in human term placenta. A morphological and gene expression study.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine placentas after delivery from normal, healthy patients at term gestation. The placentas were from elective cesarean sections (n = 10, prior to the onset of labor) and spontaneous vaginal delivery (n = 10, after labor). We found that deoxyribonucleic acid laddering was present in all placentas and consistent with the pattern found in tissues that undergo apoptosis. Paraffin-embedded sections of placental villi stained by the in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated biotinylated dUTP nick end labeling method revealed positive apoptotic nuclei in the placental villi. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction demonstrated expression of messenger RNA for testosterone-repressed prostate message 2 and B cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 in the placenta. Our data demonstrate that apoptosis occurs in human term placenta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., USA.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Thiet
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Suwanvanichkij
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasselblatt
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002585:Cesarean Section; D051152:Clusterin; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D010920:Placenta / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: C495242:CLU protein, human; D051152:Clusterin; D006023:Glycoproteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D012333:RNA, Messenger