The expression of tumor necrosis factor-α converting enzyme, in human placental villus and decidual tissue of uterus

Objective To explore preliminarily if early spontaneous abortion was related with the changes in the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α converting enzyme(TACE) in the villus and embryo decidual tissue of uterus. Methods Relative quantitative reverse transcription polymerize chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunohistochemistry and Western Blot were applied to detect and then compare TACE mRNA and protein in villus tissues and decidual tissue of early spontaneous abortion and normal pregnant artificial abortion at the same stage. Results Relative quantitative RT-PCR detection indicated that the TACE mRNA expression levels in villus and decidual tissues of normal pregnant human were obviously higher than those of the early spontaneous abortion. Immunohistochemical analyses showed that TACE protein was mainly distributed in the cytoplasm of villous trophoblast cells and luminal epithelial cells and gland epithelial cells of the pregnant decidual tissue. And both immunohistochemical analyses and Western Blot all indicated that TACE protein expression was basically identical to the result detected by relative quantitative RT-PCR, i. e. TACE protein expression levels in villus and decidual tissue of normal pregnant human were significantly higher than those of the early spontaneous abortion. Conclusions It was presumed that the low TACE expression level in villus and decidual tissue in spontaneous abortion patients might be associated the occurrence of early spontaneous abortion. Key words: Spontaneous abortion; Tumor necrosis factor-α converting enzyme; Relative quantitative RT-PCR; Immunohistochemistry