Definitive molecular evidence of renin-angiotensin system in human uterinedecidual cells

The tissue renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been suggested to be present in human gestational tissues, but uncertainty exists about the authenticity of this RAS, and the cellular origin of this RAS has not been defined. In the present study, we confirmed the presence of authentic renin and angiote nsinogen in the prolactin-producing decidual tissue by sequencing the cDNAs generated through reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, confirm ing cDNA product sizes, and by performing Northern blot analysis of the RNA . Our comparative data demonstrate that prolactin has the highest expressio n in the decidual tissue, followed by renin, and that angiotensinogen has t he least expression. We demonstrated with fluorescent in situ hybridization that prolactin-expressing endocrine decidual cells are the same cells that express both renin and angiotensinogen. These results have implications in regard to how the decidual RAS may be regulated and what potential role th is local RAS may have in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.