Expression of homeobox gene transcripts in trophoblastic cells.
OBJECTIVE
This study was conducted to examine the dynamics of homeobox gene expression in the differentiation of trophoblasts as a key to the understanding of the regulatory mechanisms that are involved in placental development.


METHODS
Expression of homeobox genes was examined in primary trophoblastic cells and in the BeWo choriocarcinoma model cell lines by molecular and immunocytochemistry techniques.


RESULTS
We demonstrated the expression of 3 homeobox genes (HOX B6, HOX C6, and HOX A11) in primary trophoblastic cells. BeWo cells showed an expression pattern similar to that of the primary cell lines. In both primary trophoblasts and BeWo cells, the HOX A11 gene, but not the HOX B6 or HOX C6 genes, were found to down-regulate with differentiation from single- to multinucleate giant cells.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates a novel expression pattern for HOX A11 gene in trophoblastic differentiation and suggests that the down-regulation of HOX A11 may be necessary for the differentiation of cytotrophoblasts into syncytiotrophoblasts.
Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, Wright State University School of Medicine and College of Science and Mathematics, Dayton, Ohio 45409-2793, USA.
Yue Mei
YM
Zhang
Bo
B
Xu
Neal
N
Rote
Linda
L
Peterson
Lawrence S
LS
Amesse
D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002822:Choriocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005801:Genes, Homeobox; D000080905:Homeobox A10 Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D010920:Placenta / Q000166:cytology; D010929:Placentation; D011247:Pregnancy; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014327:Trophoblasts; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics
C484298:HOXA11 protein, human; C093252:HOXB6 protein, human; C094289:HOXC6 protein, human; D000080905:Homeobox A10 Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C490537:Hoxb6 protein, mouse; C080041:Hoxc6 protein, mouse; C092119:Hoxa10 protein, mouse