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Expression of E-cadherin and its repressor Snail in placental tissue of normal, preeclamptic and HELLP pregnancies

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Abstract

Incomplete invasion of extravillous trophoblasts (EVT) is thought to be associated with complications of pregnancy. Snail, a zinc-finger transcription factor represses the transcription of the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of E-cadherin and Snail in placental tissue with preeclampsia or HELLP. Placental tissues were obtained from five patients with HELLP syndrome, seven patients with preeclampsia and seven patients after a normal term birth and analysed for Snail and E-cadherin immunoreactivity with specific monoclonal antibodies. Immunohistochemical staining of the placental tissue was analysed using an immunoreactivity score for the evaluation of staining intensity. In preeclamptic EVT, Snail immunoreactivity showed a significant 1.7-fold increase, accompanied by a significant 1.9-fold reduction of E-cadherin immunoreactivity. A 1.7-fold increase of Snail and in parallel a 1.3-fold reduction of E-cadherin was observed in EVT of HELLP placentas although without statistical significance. Loss of E-cadherin can be observed during epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), a key process in normal development and trophoblast differentiation. Snail represses the transcription of E-cadherin triggering a complete EMT. Results obtained in this study showed changes of Snail and E-cadherin immunoreactivity in preeclamptic placentas that could be accompanied with an altered EMT in trophoblasts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pathology, Technical University of Munich, Trogerstrasse 18, 81675, Munich, Germany

    Kareen Blechschmidt & Karl-Friedrich Becker

  2. 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ludwig–Maximilians-University of Munich, Maistrasse 11, 80337, Munich, Germany

    Ioannis Mylonas, Barbara Schiessl, Sandra Schulze & Udo Jeschke

  3. Institute of Pathology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Thalkirchner Street 36, 80337, Munich, Germany

    Doris Mayr

Authors
  1. Kareen Blechschmidt
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  2. Ioannis Mylonas
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  3. Doris Mayr
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  4. Barbara Schiessl
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Correspondence to Karl-Friedrich Becker.

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K.-F. Becker and U. Jeschke contributed equally to this work.

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Blechschmidt, K., Mylonas, I., Mayr, D. et al. Expression of E-cadherin and its repressor Snail in placental tissue of normal, preeclamptic and HELLP pregnancies. Virchows Arch 450, 195–202 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-006-0343-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-006-0343-x

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