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Effect of RU486 on apoptosis and p53 expression at the boundary of fetal-maternal interface of rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)

Wei Peng, Tao Shixin, Zhang Xuesen, Hu Zhaoyuan, Liu Yixun

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

Abstract

Western blot analysis showed the specificity of the anti-human antibody used with the monkey tissue. In the placental villi, the apoptotic nuclei were observed mainly in the syncytiotrophoblast and part of the cytotrophoblast within the cell column; p53 protein was detected mainly in the cytotrophoblast. In the endometrium, positive signals for apoptosis and p53 were detected in some stromal cells. After two days of mifepristone treatment, the apoptotic cells increased significantly in both placental villi and endometrium. In the villi, the increased apoptotic nuclei were mainly localized to the cytotrophoblast. At the same time, p53-positive nuclei also increased in both villous cytotrophoblast cells and endometrial stromal cells, after the treatment of RU486. These results suggest that apoptosis and expression of p53 are essential in regulating trophoblastic homeostasis by controlling its proliferation in normal placenta, whereas the up-regulation of p53 protein may play an important role in apoptosis that happens at the fetal-maternal interface induced by RU486.

Key words: apoptosis;p53;RU486; rhesus monkey

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Citing This Article：

Wei Peng, Tao Shixin, Zhang Xuesen, Hu Zhaoyuan, Liu Yixun. Effect of RU486 on apoptosis and p53 expression at the boundary of fetal-maternal interface of rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta). Acta Physiol Sin 2004; 56 (1): (in Chinese with English abstract).