THE HORMONE‐SYNTHESIZING TROPHOBLASTIC CELL IN VITRO: A MODEL FOR CANCER RESEARCH AND PLACENTAL HORMONE SYNTHESIS

Abstract

The human trophoblast, the hormonally functional cell of the placenta, differentiates in the first-order cleavage of the fertilized human ovum immediately following conception.1 Hormonal function from the placental trophoblast can be detected in maternal serum by human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)2 and human placental lactogen (HPL) assays shortly following the 58-cell stage of the human ovum. Thus, trophoblastic cellular differentiation and placental hormone synthesis are among the earliest morphological and biochemical differentiations to occur in the human. This cell type has not been established in vitro.Choriocarcinoma is a unique malignancy of trophoblastic cells which follows normal pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, or hydatiform mole. This tumor closely parallels the normal placenta in hormone function and cellular metabolism, with the exception that the limited invasiveness of the normal placenta during its implantation is far exceeded by that of the malignant tumor, which, proceeding unrestricted, culminates in the death of the patient within a period of less than 1 year.4 A morphological similarity can be observed among the trophoblastic cells of the human blastocyst less than 92 hours after conception (FIGURE l ) , the invading normal placenta of the first trimester (FIGURE 2), and the rapidly proliferating choriocarcinoma (FIGURE 3 ) .

Placental Leptin: An Important New Growth Factor in Intrauterine and Neonatal Development?

“…A biopsy of abdominal fat was obtained from an obese pregnant woman. Human placental cell lines, JAR 14 and JEG-3, 15 were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Rockville, MD). JAR cells were grown in RPMI medium 1640 with 10% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum and penicillin-streptomycin, and JEG-3 cells were cultured in ␣-MEM medium with 15% (vol/vol) fetal calf serum and penicillin-streptomycin.…”

Fluid Shear Stress Reduces 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Type 2

“…RT of 1 g total RNA in the presence of oligo(dT) [12][13][14][15][16][17][18] primer and 200 U Moloney murine leukemia virusreverse transcriptase (both GIBCO BRL) was followed by PCR performed in a Perkin-Elmer ABI Prism 7700 Thermal Cycler Sequence Detection System with ABI Prism PrimerExpress Software. The 11␤-HSD2 PCR product was normalized by the GAPDH PCR product.…”

“…16 The human choriocarcinoma cell line JEG-3 serves as a model to investigate properties of trophoblasts. This cell line has been characterized to produce steroid hormones and vasoactive compounds [17][18][19] and to express 11␤-HSD2 under static conditions. 20 Blood flow along endovascular surfaces is associated with ss, which is sensed and transduced into biochemical signals via multiple pathways, such as integrins.…”

Ultrastuctural localization of HCG and subunits in the human placenta and choriocarcinoma cell lines-morphological approach to secretory pathway.

“…BeWo choriocarcinoma cell line and SC H choriocarcinoma cell line have maintained several characteristics of the normal trophoblasts (9,10,11). These cells produce HCG, HPL, estrogen and progesterone (12). To elucidate the secretory pathway of HCG, these cell lines are available as in vitro models.…”