Placenta is the supplying source to fetal development which is the one of the most rapid growing tissue in the human. Cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts found in normal and diseased conditions are identical histological shapes under the
light
microscopic observations, in spite of a suspision that there are some functional and antigenic differences between the normal and diseased conditions.
Epidermal growth factor(EGF) is believed to act as a stimulant and/or a regulator to proliferating tissue and also known is the fact that EGF-R is distributed in the normal placental tissue. The author has been interested to evaluate the
differences in
EGF-R distribution in normal young and aged placental tissues with trophoblastic diseases, such as partial and complete moles, invasive moles, and choriocarcinomas. In addition, c-myc oncoprotein was studied to find some possible different
expressions
among those conditions, including hydropic changed gestational products.
@ES The results obtained are as follows:
@EN 1. The EGF-R is expressed on cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts in young placental tissue and syncytiotrophoblasts along the microvillous membranes in term tissue and syncytiotrophoblasts along the microvillous membranes in term
placental
tissues and the intensity of the expression is decreased along the aging.
2. The EGF-R is focally expressed on the cyto-and syncytiotrophoblasts of the villi found in hydropic changed gestational products, and is not expressed on the cyto- and syncytiotrophoblasts of the partial, complete, and invasive moles.
3. The EGF-R is expressed on the cytoplasms of cytotrophoblasts of choriocarcinoma tissues.
4. The c-myc oncoprotein is expressed on the nuclei of the cytotrophoblasts, in the normal placental tissues and in the villi of hydropic changed young placental tissue.
5. The c-myc oncoprotein is expressed in cytoplasmic membranes of syncytiotrophoblasts of the partial, complete, and invaive moles and choriocarcinoma tissues, without nuclear expressions.
With the above results, the author can suggest to use EGF-R as a diagnostic tool to differentiate hydropic changed young placenta from partial and complete mole at the biopsied specimens.
|