EXPRESSION OF C-KIT PROTEIN DURING PLACENTAL DEVELOPMENT

The c-kit proto-oncogene encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor and is shown to be allelic with the white-spotting locus (W) of the mouse. In order to elucidate the role of c-kit protein during placental development, we have examined the expression of c-kit protein in the uterus and placenta of mice at pre- and post-implantation stages by the avidin-biotin-peroxidase (ABC) method using rat anti-mouse c-kit monoclonal antibody. At Days 3 and 5 of pregnancy and pseudo-pregnancy, c-kit protein was detected in the glandular epithelium, but little expression was observed in the luminal epithelium. At Day 7 of pregnancy, expression was detected in the stromal cells around the uterine crypts of the mesometrial portion, but not in the vigorously proliferating decidual cells around the developing embryo. At Days 9 and 10 of pregnancy, the decidua basalis facing invading trophoblasts gradually expressed c-kit protein. In the mature placenta, c-kit protein was detected in the labyrinthine and decidual layers, but in neither the giant trophoblastic nor the spongiotrophoblastic layer. By Northern blotting and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), c-kit mRNA was detected at the stages of periimplantation and placental development. These results suggested that the c-kit protein might be involved in the proliferation and differentiation of placenta.