ArticleReproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E2009
Integrin-linked kinase can facilitate syncytialization and hormonal differentiation of the human trophoblast-derived BeWo cell line.
Article in Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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11 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Spatio-temporal expression of E-cadherin mediates trophoblast lineage transitions during human placentation.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Advantages, limitations, and innovative considerations for established and emerging models of human placental syncytiotrophoblast.Human reproduction update · 2026Review
- Epithelial‑mesenchymal plasticity and cisplatin resistance in germ cell tumors: Mechanisms and emerging therapeutic strategies (Review).International journal of oncology · 2025Review
- Dysregulated GLUT1 results in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia by impairing the function of trophoblast cells.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- How trophoblasts fuse: an in-depth look into placental syncytiotrophoblast formation.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2022Review
- Fermitin family homolog-2 (FERMT2) is highly expressed in human placental villi and modulates trophoblast invasion.BMC developmental biology · 2018Article
- Diet-induced obesity alters the maternal metabolome and early placenta transcriptome and decreases placenta vascularity in the mouse.Biology of reproduction · 2018Article
- Protein purification and analysis: next generation Western blotting techniques.Expert review of proteomics · 2017Review
- Glioma-associated Oncogene 2 Is Essential for Trophoblastic Fusion by Forming a Transcriptional Complex with Glial Cell Missing-a.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2016Article
- Placenta-imprinted gene expression association of infant neurobehavior.The Journal of pediatrics · 2012Article
- Down-regulation of the transcription factor snail in the placentas of patients with preeclampsia and in a rat model of preeclampsia.Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2012Article
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4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundIn the fusion pathway of trophoblast differentiation, stem villous cytotrophoblast cells proliferate and daughter cells differentiate and fuse with existing syncytiotrophoblast to maintain the multi-nucleated layer. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is highly expressed in 1st and 2nd trimester villous cytotrophoblast cells, yet barely detectable in syncytiotrophoblast, thus we examined the potential role of ILK in aiding trophoblast fusion.
methodsThe temporal/spatial expression and activity of ILK were determined in BeWo cells undergoing syncytialization by immunoblot and immunofluorescence analyses. BeWo cells were also transfected with pEGFP expression vectors containing wildtype or two mutant ILK cDNA constructs. The incidence of cell fusion in transfected cells grown under syncytialization conditions was then scored by the presence or absence of E-cadherin immunostaining. Beta-hCG expression in transfected cells, a marker of syncytiotrophoblast hormonal differentiation, was also similarly assessed.
resultsILK catalytic activity increased and ILK began to increasingly localize to BeWo cell nuclei during syncytialization in correlation with increased pAkt and Snail protein expression. Syncytialization was also significantly elevated (p < 0.05) in BeWo cells expressing constitutively active (ca)-ILK vs cells containing empty vector or dn-ILK. Furthermore, cytoplasmic Beta-hCG expression markedly increased (p < 0.05) in cells expressing wt- and ca-ILK.
conclusionILK-facilitated syncytialization is dependent, at least in part, on ILK catalytic activity while hormonal differentiation appears dependent on both ILK-associated protein interactions and catalytic activity. This study demonstrates that ILK plays a novel role in BeWo syncytialization and differentiation, perhaps through an ILK-Akt-Snail pathway, and implicates ILK in the same process in villous cytotrophoblasts in vivo.
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