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Endoglin, a component of the TGF‐β receptor system, is a differentiation marker of human choriocarcinoma cells
Author(s) -
Letamendía Ainhoa,
Lastres Pedro,
Almendro Nuria,
Raab Ulla,
Bühring HansJ.,
Kumar Shant,
Bernabéu Carmelo
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19980518)76:4<541::aid-ijc16>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - syncytiotrophoblasts , endoglin , cytotrophoblast , choriocarcinoma , syncytiotrophoblast , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , cell culture , placenta , stem cell , fetus , pregnancy , genetics , cd34
Endoglin is an integral membrane glycoprotein that binds transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) with high affinity and it is strongly expressed on syncytiotrophoblasts throughout pregnancy. Here, we describe the expression of endoglin by the choriocarcinoma cell line JAR as evidenced by flow cytometry, immunoprecipitation, Western blot and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analyses. Cross‐linking experiments of [ 125 I]‐labeled TGF‐β1 to JAR cells indicated that endoglin expressed at the surface of these cells binds TGF‐β. Furthermore, staining of human choriocarcinoma tissue sections with a polyclonal antibody to endoglin demonstrated a high expression of endoglin in syncytiotrophoblast‐like areas, as opposed to a negative staining of cytotrophoblast‐like cells. This pattern of endoglin expression was confirmed by experiments with methotrexate, an inducer of giant, multinucleated, non‐proliferative cells, morphologically indistinguishable from the naturally occurring syncytiotrophoblasts. Thus, treatment of the JAR and JEG‐3 choriocarcinoma cell lines with methotrexate led to an increase in endoglin expression, as demonstrated by Western and Northern blot analyses. Taken together, our results suggest that endoglin, in addition to being involved in placental development, may also be a cellular differentiation marker. Int. J. Cancer 76:541–546, 1998.© 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.