Immunohistochemical profile of basement membrane proteins and 72 kilodalton type IV collagenase in the implantation placental site. An integrated view.

An immunohistochemical study was performed to investigate the interactions between trophoblast and the extracellular matrix in the implantation site of early pregnancies. Two basement membrane-related proteins (type IV collagen and laminin), as well as the expression of the 72 kilodalton type IV collagenase, were studied with affinity-purified antibodies. human placental lactogen, human chorionic gonadotropins, and AE1/AE3 cytokeratins were used to identify the different cell populations involved in the implantation process. All types of trophoblastic cells, from villous cells to the different types of intermediate trophoblast, expressed the 72 kilodalton type IV collagenase. Decidual cells, Hofbauer's cells, villous fibroblasts, and amnion were also positive. Laminin and type IV collagen were expressed in all basement membranes, including large decidual and intermediate trophoblast cells, and the villous stroma. Nitabuch's layer, an acellular degradative zone at the site of initial attachment, showed positivity for type IV collagen. The extracellular matrix in the implantation site seems to be a meshwork of, among other components, laminin and type IV collagen, in which the invading trophoblastic cells are embedded. The invasive capacity of these cells in vivo may be, at least in part, mediated by their type IV collagenolytic activity along with that of the decidual cells, thus regulating the permeability of the extracellular matrix.