title: Syncytin-A mediates the formation of syncytiotrophoblast involved in mouse placental development.
abstract: Syncytin-A, a new mouse endogenous retroviral envelope protein expressed in placenta, can mediate cell fusion in vitro. But its physiological function was still unknown. We proposed a role for syncytin-A in syncytiotrophoblast (SynT) formation derived from the differentiation of trophoblast stem (TS) cells during placental development. To evaluate this hypothesis, we analyzed the involvement of syncytin-A in the differentiation of mouse TS cells. After withdrawing fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4), TS cells can fuse to form SynT cells. We found syncytin-A mRNA and protein expression are colinear with fusion index increase during TS cell differentiation. Expression of syncytin-A is localized in SynT cells through in situ immunofluorescent staining. By using specific antibody and antisense oligonucleotides, we demonstrated that inhibition of syncytin-A lead to obvious decrease of SynT cell formation. These results present evidence in support of the direct role for syncytin-A in mouse TS cell fusion and differentiation involved in placental development.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Virology and Modern Virology Research Centre, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Liqin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Huixing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Po
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tien
authors.forename: Gengfu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xiao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D051519:Fibroblast Growth Factor 4 / Q000494:pharmacology; D005347:Fibroblasts; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense / Q000235:genetics; D010920:Placenta / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051519:Fibroblast Growth Factor 4; D016376:Oligonucleotides, Antisense; D011257:Pregnancy Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C497514:syncytin-A protein, mouse