Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 5, 1351-1357,
May 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Ultrastructure of the early human feto-maternal interface co-cultured in vitro
1 Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Wolfson & Weston Research Centre for Family Health, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, 2 Electron Microscopy Unit, Department of Histopathology, 6th Floor, Laboratory Block, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RF, UK
BACKGROUND: The study was designed to investigate the ultrastructural features of the early human feto-maternal interface when generated by in-vitro co-culture, and compare these with findings reported previously from human pregnancies. METHODS: Placental villi and decidua parietalis tissues from 8–12 week pregnancies were co-cultured in vitro over a 4-day period. The co-incubations were ended at 24 h intervals and processed for electron microscopical studies, and for immunocytochemistry using anti-cytokeratin antibody (CAM 5.2) for trophoblast. RESULTS: Loss of the syncytium at points of contact with the decidual stroma, cytotrophoblast column formation, differentiation and invasion of extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells into the decidual stroma over the 4-day period of co-culture were observed. Cellular components, such as actin filaments, microtubules, glycogen granules and lamellipodic processes found in EVT cells were consistent with active cellular locomotion. CONCLUSIONS: These ultrastructural studies emphasize the usefulness of this model in investigating the formation of the feto-maternal interface of human pregnancy. The recruitment of cytotrophoblast to the syncytium by a process involving fusion of the intervening plasma membranes, and the migration of EVT cells causing little or no damage to the surrounding decidual cells, resemble in-vivo data.
Key words: co-culture in vitro/EVT/feto-maternal interface/fusion of plasma membranes
3 Present address: Division of Pathology, School of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Nottingham Medical School, Queens' Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
4 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mark.sullivan{at}ic.ac.uk
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