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Ultrastructural alterations of term human amnionic epithelium following incubation with group B beta-hemolytic streptococci.

The association between the group B beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GBBHS) and premature labor, premature rupture of the membranes, and chorioamnionitis with intact membranes is well known. However, the mechanisms involved in this association remain unclear. In this study we incubated term chorioamniotic membranes from patients undergoing elective repeat cesarean section in double-armed incubation vessels that isolated the maternal from the fetal surfaces. The GBBHS was placed adjacent to the maternal surface and incubated for 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hr. Control membrane specimens from the same patient were incubated under identical conditions for identical time periods but without the presence of GBBHS. Examination of the specimens by transmission electron microscopy revealed progressive nuclear and basement membrane alteration in the study group that was maximal at 12 hr. There was also a progressive decrease in desmosome counts in the study membranes. These in vitro changes support the in vivo association of GBBHS with the aforementioned obstetric complications.

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Epidermal growth factor enhances secretion of the ovarian tumor-associated cancer antigen CA125 from the human amnion WISH cell line.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the relation between epidermal growth factor (EGF)/epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and CA125 production in WISH cells. METHODS: We investigated quantitatively and immunohistochemically EGF-stimulated CA125 release from WISH cells and the effect of EGF on CA125 phosphorylation. RESULTS: Immunohistochemical staining demonstrated that CA125 and EGFR expression on the plasma membrane of the WISH cells was closely correlated with cell density. The WISH cell monolayers (day 4) stained for CA125 in both the cytoplasm and plasma membrane. By day 8, cells began to form clumps in the surrounding monolayer that were positive for membrane-associated CA125 and EGFR, while the monolayer was almost negative for both molecules. Four-day and 8-day cells exposed to EGF demonstrated a loss of both CA125 and EGFR staining. Epidermal growth factor increased the secreted CA125 levels by 50% in day-4 cells but had no effect on day-8 cells. CA125 from WISH cells was phosphorylated, and EGF further enhanced this phosphorylation.

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Human relaxin in the amnion, chorion, decidua parietalis, basal plate, and placental trophoblast by immunocytochemistry and northern analysis.

Immunocytochemistry and Northern analysis were used to show that relaxin is a product of intrauterine tissues of pregnancy. In addition, tissues from a patient without ovaries had similar results on both immunocytochemistry and Northern analysis as tissues from intact patients. The parietal decidua was clearly the major source of relaxin within the uterus and the relaxin mRNA (1.2 kilobases) from this tissue was detected with a 48-mer oligonucleotide probe designed to hybridize with both H1 and H2 relaxin gene transcripts. The mRNA isolated from the placental trophoblast was slightly smaller (1.1 kilobases), and the placental basal plate which has both maternal and fetal cells contained relaxin mRNAs of both sizes. Two monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) raised to synthetic human relaxin (H2) gave different patterns of localization in the fetal membranes, decidua and placenta. One Mab (RLX8) stained the chorionic cytotrophoblast in the fetal membranes and all of the cells in the placental basal plate. The other Mab (RLX6) stained the chorionic cytotrophoblast in some instances and selectively stained the decidua-like cells of the placental syncytiotrophoblast, whereas Mab RLX8 failed to detect this relaxin. Tissues obtained after spontaneous labor and delivery contained significantly less relaxin mRNA than tissues obtained at elective cesarean section without labor, but their hormone contents, as judged by immunocytochemistry, were not different. We conclude that the relaxin gene (H2) is expressed in intrauterine tissues, but that expression and hormone synthesis are not ubiquitous. Whether the relaxin gene H1 is expressed has not been determined.

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The translaminal fibrils of the human amnion basement membrane.

The organisation of extracellular matrix beneath the human amniotic epithelium was investigated in order that the co-ordinate synthesis of basal lamina and stroma by these cells could be better understood. Transmission electron microscopy of intact tissue confirmed that stromal matrix fibrils are located between the cell surface and the basal lamina, and also penetrate the lamina. The distribution of the supralaminal fibrils and their association with the lamina was further investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after removal of the overlying epithelium. Five complementary procedures were used to remove the cells from the underlying lamina. Trypsin-EDTA treatment caused the epithelial cells to retract or detach from the lamina. SDS or ammonium hydroxide was used to extract the epithelium, which was then removed by physical shearing. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that the lamina densa and supralaminal fibres were present after extraction by these agents. Incubation in CHAPS, a zwiterionic detergent, did not remove the epithelium but permitted exposure of the basal lamina by mechanical scoring. Extraction with boric acid followed by osmium tetroxide produced epithelial disruption and revealed the lamina and stroma in different areas. Although the extraction pattern was different in each case, all of the five methods confirmed that individual fibrils and fibril bundles are present on the apical surface of, and enter, the lamina densa. Examination of the stromal surface of the basal lamina after fracture revealed fibrils passing from the stroma into the lamina densa. We therefore suggest that, in this tissue, newly synthesised stromal matrix components appear in an assembled fibrillar form between the basal cell surface and the basal lamina before becoming associated with the sublaminal stroma.

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