CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase and CNBP expression in trophoblastic cell and placenta

ARIAS, A.; CALCATERRA, N; CLAUDIA ELENA BANCHIO

Rosario

Congreso; SAIB; 2006

In normal human pregnancies, a villous trophoblast in the placenta consists of a population of proliferating cytotrophoblasts that differentiate and individually fuse into a syncytiotrophoblast. In the first trimester, the cytotrophoblast proliferation rate is high and the proportion of proliferative villous cytotrophoblasts decreases thereafter. In spontaneous abortions, the trophoblasts are less hyperplasic. CNBP stimulates cell proliferation and induces the proto-oncogene c-myc expression. On the other hand, the phosphatidylcholine (PC) requirement increases for membrane biosynthesis during cells growth and differentiation. Thus, we investigated the expression profile of CNBP and different isoforms of CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CCT; enzyme that catalyze the slow and limited step of the PC-biosynthetic pathway). We measured the expression of CNBP and CCT by RT-PCR and Western Blot. We analyzed samples from human and mouse placentas and cultivated human choriocarcinoma cell line (Jeg-3) with and without metotrexate treatment (differentiation condition). The results demonstrated that CCTa and CNBP have differential expression among the analyzed tissues contrary to the ubiquitously expressed CCTa. Thereafter, trophoblasts from placentas of normal pregnancies, abortions, and Jeg-3 cells seem to differ in terms of their respective rates of proliferation and degeneration.