The Role of c-Myc in the Syncytialization of Human Trophoblast
XU Zengwei, WANG Yongheng, LIU Taihang, WANG Yingxiong, DING Yubin*
The proto-oncogene c-Myc is known to regulate the self-renewal of human pluripotent stem cells but its function in human trophoblast progenitor cells is unclear. This study aimed to determine the role of c-Myc in the syncytialization of cytotrophoblast cells. In this study, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to detect the expression of c-Myc in human early pregnancy villous trophoblasts and in BeWo cells. Verification of the expression of the transcription factors involved in c-Myc-mediated regulation of syncytialization was done with qRT-PCR. The expression of c-Myc was observed in both the primary villous tissues and Bewo cells. And within the villous tissues, the expression was higher in the inner layer but weaker in the outer layer of the cytotrophoblast. Both forskolin-induced fusion of Bewo cells and spontaneous fusion of the primary cytotrophoblast led to a significant downregulation of c-Myc and the trophoblast stem cell-related transcription factors: OCT4, SOX2 and hTERT. The cell cycle-related factors, CCNA2 and CDK2, were downregulated while CDKN2A was upregulated. The expression of c-Myc was downregulated during syncytialization, and might be involved in the process by regulating the cell cycle and the self-renewal of the trophoblast cells.
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