Immunocytochemical localization and messenger ribonucleic acid concentrations for human placental lactogen in amnion, chorion, decidua, and placenta.

Human placental lactogen is one of the major hormones secreted by the placental syncytiotrophoblast and detected in the maternal circulation. Other sources of this hormone in intrauterine tissues at term have been sought by means of immunohistochemistry and northern analysis. Avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase staining with a specific polyclonal antibody to human placental lactogen showed this hormone to be present in groups of cells at the interface between chorionic cytotrophoblast and decidua parietalis and in some cells of the basal plate in addition to the classic source, the syncytiotrophoblast.

Human relaxin in the amnion, chorion, decidua parietalis, basal plate, and placental trophoblast by immunocytochemistry and northern analysis.

Immunocytochemistry and Northern analysis were used to show that relaxin is a product of intrauterine tissues of pregnancy. In addition, tissues from a patient without ovaries had similar results on both immunocytochemistry and Northern analysis as tissues from intact patients. The parietal decidua was clearly the major source of relaxin within the uterus and the relaxin mRNA (1.

Immunocytochemical localization of prolactin and relaxin C-peptide in human decidua and placenta.

The production of PRL by the human decidua is generally accepted, but the production of relaxin by this tissue is not. The two hormones were localized in decidual tissue using the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase procedure with antisera to human PRL and to a synthetic 14-amino acid sequence of the connecting peptide of human relaxin (hCp14). The object of using the hCp14 antiserum was to verify relaxin production by the detection of C-peptide and/or prorelaxin.