ABSTRACT
The present study aims to investigate the effects of soluble endoglin (sEng) on invasive ability of cultured cytotrophoblasts of first trimester of pregnancy. Cytotrophoblasts of normal 6 to 8-week pregnancy were cultured by trypsin digestion method, and were incubated with cell culture medium without (control group) and with 10 μg/L sEng (sEng group), respectively for 24 h. The invasive ability was determined by transwell invasion assay, and expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9 mRNA and protein were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively. The results showed that the invasive ability of cytotrophoblasts in sEng group was lower than that in control group (P < 0.05). Compared with control group, the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA and protein of cytotrophoblasts were significantly lower (P < 0.05). In conclusion, sEng may participate in the genesis of preeclampsia by affecting the invasive ability of cytotrophoblasts through regulation of the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9.