| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
TANAKA Hirokazu Kagawa medical School, Department of Perinatogymecology, Instructor, 医学部, 助手 (80207125)
KATO Yoshio Tokyo University, School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, A, 医学部, 講師 (00185878)
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| Research Abstract |
Placenta plays important roles during pregnancy to the fetus and mother. To the fetus, it tranports nutrients, oxigen and hormones from The mother. To the mother, it provides many hormones and changes metabolic status. Local environment in the reproductive organs, especially in the placenta and endometrum communicate each other, via locally produced growth factors, cytokaines and hormones, in the paracrine or autocrine manner. In this context, we examined how these substances modulates the biological functions of the trophoblastic cells as well as endometrial cells, and analyzedz the molecular characters of hormones or substances produced in the reproductive organs.
First, we clarified the stimulatory effect of retinoic acid, known as differentiation inducer, and ascorbic acid on human chorionic gonadotropin, indispensable to maintain the early stage of pregnancy, produced in the trophoblastic cells.
Second, production of parathyroid hormone-related hormone(PTHrP), known as the substance causing humoral hyper calcemia of malignancy, local regulator of calcium metabolism and growth factor, was demonstrated in the reproductive organs, especially in the trophoblastic cells. We also examined the blood PTHrP levels during pregnancy and in the fetus. The results suggest that PTHrP plays important roles to maintain the calcium homeostasis in the environment of mother and fetus.
Third, how the biological function(plasminogen activator system)of endometrial cells is modulated was examined. We showed that phorbol ester, protein kinase C stimulator, and EGF stimulated the tissue-type plasminogen antivator production as well as plsminogen inhibitor-1 production at the pretranslational level in the endometrial cells.
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