Short communication Chorionic plate expression patterns of the maspin tumor suppressor protein in preeclamptic and egg donor placentas E.S. Taglauer a, b, * , F. Gundogan c , K.L. Johnson a, b , S.A. Scherjon d , D.W. Bianchi a, b a Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St. Box 394, Boston, MA 02111, USA b Department of Pediatrics, Floating Hospital for Children, 755 Washington St. Boston, Boston, MA 02111, USA c Department of Pathology, Women and Infants’ Hospital, 90 Plain Street Providence, RI 02903, USA d Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Centre Groningen, PO Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands article info Article history: Accepted 23 January 2013 Keywords: Maspin Preeclampsia Egg donation Chorionic plate abstract Maspin is a serine protease inhibitor involved in regulating human placental trophoblast cell migration. Maspin has not been studied in preeclampsia (PE) or relative to the maternalefetal immunological relationship, both of which may involve altered trophoblast migration. We examined maspin expression in placentas from in vitro fertilization (IVF) and egg donor (ED) pregnancies with and without PE. Exclusive to the chorionic plate, the number of maspin-positive extravillous trophoblasts was sig- nificantly decreased in IVF-PE vs. IVF (p ¼ 0.005) and ED vs. IVF (p ¼ 0.013). These data suggest maspin expression may be influenced by PE and/or the immunological dynamics of pregnancy. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Cell migration is a central component of many biological pro- cesses. Accordingly, it requires consistent regulation. During hemochorial placentation, dysregulation of trophoblast cell migra- tion can lead to pregnancy-related pathologies. Maspin, a serine protease inhibitor, is a well-characterized in- hibitor of cell migration [1]. Maspin has been identified in human placentas of spontaneously conceived pregnancies [2]. In vitro studies suggest it functions in the first trimester to modify troph- oblast cell invasion [2]. To date, maspin has not been studied in preeclampsia (PE), in which altered trophoblast cell invasion plays a central role [3]. The risk of developing PE is also linked to the immunological relationship between mother and fetus [4,5]. Pregnancies conceived by egg donation offer a unique context in which the fetus is fully allogeneic to its mother [6,7]. Interestingly ED pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of PE [8]. Here we examined whether maspin expression is influenced by PE and/or the maternalefetal immunological relationship. Maspin expression was examined in IVF and ED placentas with and without PE. We observed maspin differentially expressed in ED and preeclamptic IVF placentas, though exclusively within the chorionic plate. Our results highlight a previously un- identified location of maspin expression in the placenta, and sug- gest a novel interface for examining alterations of trophoblast cell localization. 2. Methods 2.1. Tissue collection The study was performed with IRB approval from Women and Infants’ Hospital, Providence, RI, and Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA. All placentas were collected from third trimester (34e39 weeks) cesarean section deliveries following in vitro fertilization, using the woman’s own eggs (IVF) or an unrelated egg donor (ED). Placental tissues were further categorized as originating from pregnancies with and without preeclampsia (PE): IVF (n ¼ 7); IVF-PE (n ¼ 8); ED (n ¼ 7); ED-PE (n ¼ 9). Clinical parameters for preeclampsia were a sustained systolic blood pressure >140 with proteinuria after 20 weeks gestation. Two separate tissue samples were cut from each placenta, formalin fixed, paraffin embedded and coded. Microscope analysis was blinded to clinical status. 2.2. Immunohistochemistry Ten mM thick tissue sections were subjected to deparaffinization and antigen retrieval. Tissues were incubated overnight at 4  C with antibodies against maspin (clone G167, BD Pharmingen), cytokeratin 7 (clone OV-TL, Dako) or isotypecontrol (Mouse IgG2b, eBioscience). Primary antibody labeling was identified via an anti- mouse AEC development kit (Invitrogen) with a hematoxylin counterstain for nuclei visualization. * Corresponding author. Mother Infant Research, Institute at Tufts Medical Cen- ter, 800 Washington St. Box 394, Boston, MA 02111, USA. Tel.: þ1 617 636 1468; fax: þ1 617 636 1469. E-mail addresses: etaglauer@tuftsmedicalcenter.org (E.S. Taglauer), FGundogan@WIHRI.org (F. Gundogan), Kirby.Johnson@tufts.edu (K.L. Johnson), sicco.scherjon@gmail.com (S.A. Scherjon), dbianchi@tuftsmedicalcenter.org (D.W. Bianchi). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Placenta journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/placenta 0143-4004/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2013.01.008 Placenta 34 (2013) 385e387