Journal
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 29, Issue 3, Pages 379-386Publisher
SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS
DOI: 10.1007/s10875-008-9258-4
Keywords
Chemokine receptor; HIV-1; placenta; CXCR7; vertical transmission; RDC1
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Chemokine receptor expression by human trophoblast and other placental cells have important implications for understanding the regulation of placental growth, development, and their role in maternofetal HIV transmission. CXCR7, now a deorphanized G protein coupled receptor that has been recently shown to bind to the ligands ITAC and CXCL12 has been proposed to act as a co-receptor for HIV-1, HIV-2, and SIV strains. The differential expression of CXCR7 in the human placenta is not yet reported. The expression of CXCR7 was studied in 45 different human placental tissues, of which 20 were from early placental tissues (8-10 week old) obtained from medically terminated pregnancies and 25 were placenta from normal term deliveries. Immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR analysis revealed a greater expression of CXCR7 in term human placenta as compared to the early stage. This was further confirmed by real-time PCR. Our study reveals, for the first time, the differential expression of CXCR7 in early (8-10 weeks) and term human placenta. The precise role of CXCR7 in the human placenta needs to be determined. HIV vertical transmission is reported to occur mainly during the end stages of pregnancy. Our finding of increased CXCR7 expression in the term human placenta therefore warrants future studies to assess its role in the vertical transmission of HIV-1.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available