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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 69/2/563    most recent biolreprod.103.015198v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Qin, L. Articles by Piao, Y.-S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Qin, L. Articles by Piao, Y.-S. Agricola Articles by Qin, L. Articles by Piao, Y.-S.

Temporal and Spatial Expression of Integrins and Their Extracellular Matrix Ligands at the Maternal-Fetal Interface in the Rhesus Monkey During Pregnancy¹

State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China

The integrin and extracellular matrix protein (ECM)-mediated adhesion and invasion of the receptive maternal uterine endometrium by trophoblasts is a critical event in the complex physiological process of pregnancy. Although the process has been largely characterized in mice, the relevant mechanism in primates remains unclear. We investigated the expression patterns and dynamic alterations of integrin subunits (₁, ₅, ₆, ß₁, and ß₄) and their ECM ligands, such as laminin (LN), type IV collagen (Col IV), and fibronectin (FN), at the maternal-fetal interface during Gestational Days 15, 25, 50, and 100 and at full term in 20 pregnant rhesus monkeys. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization revealed that a relatively high expression of integrins occurred in trophoblast cells at Gestational Day 15, with the peak level occurring at Day 25. The expression level decreased from Day 50 to term. Along the invasive pathway, expression levels of integrin ₁, ₅, and ß₁ subunits were gradually elevated from the proximal to distal column, reaching peak level in the trophoblast shell, but were reduced in those invasive extravillous cytotrophoblast (EVCT) cells in contact with the decidua. Integrin ₁, ₅, ß₁, and ß₄ subunits were also highly expressed in decidual stromal cells and moderately expressed in the maternal epithelium and endothelium. Immunoreactive FN, LN, and Col IV were distributed in EVCT and decidual stromal cells and part of the uterine epithelial and endothelial cells. These data suggest that the correlated expression of integrins and their ECM ligands at the maternal-fetal interface might be involved in regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation and the counterbalanced invasion-accelerating and invasion-restraining processes in trophoblast cells during the early stage of pregnancy.

¹ This work was supported by grants from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Knowledge Innovation Program (KSCX-2-SW-201 and KSCX3-IOZ-07) and the Special Funds for Major State Basic Research Projects (G1999055903).

² Correspondence: Yan-Ling Wang and Yun-Shang Piao, State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 25 Bei Si Huan Xi Rd., Haidian, Beijing 100080, China. FAX: 86 10 62529248; wangyl{at}panda.ioz.ac.cn and lmc{at}panda.ioz.ac.cn

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