Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether cultured trophoblast cells shared the same morphological and biological properties observed in trophoblast, in vivo.
Study design: Trophoblast cells from human term placenta were cultured, morphologically, biochemically and immunochemically monitored for as long as 30 days.
Results: Single cells progressively aggregated and fused into a syncytio, the Ca2+ and the Ca(2+)-ATPase activity drooped, and the 72 kDa collagenase (MMP-2) was consistently expressed.
Conclusions: Term placenta trophoblast cultures can be viewed and used as a model system mimicking morphological and biochemical events of placenta biology and differentiation.