The exact role of apoptosis that occurs in human placenta during the early
stage of pregnancy remains unknown because of the difficulty in obtaining t
he intact implantation site. In this study, we used rhesus monkey as an ani
mal model to examine apoptosis occurring in the implantation site at variou
s stages of early pregnancy. It was shown that Fas and FasL mRNA and protei
n were localized in both the chorionic villi and glandular epithelium from
day 15 to day 30 of pregnancy. Fas and FasL protein were also expressed in
the epithelial plaque on day 15 of pregnancy. In situ 3'-end-labeling resul
ts showed that glandular epithelial cells underwent extensive apoptosis wit
h obvious morphological degradation during the early stage of pregnancy. It
was found that the cells that were 3'-end-labeled in the chorionic villi a
nd anchoring villi were mainly localized in cytotrophoblast and cytotrophob
last column. It is therefore suggested that in primates apoptosis, which ma
y be involved in the regulation of proliferation of trophoblast villi and d
egradation of epithelial plaque, as well as remodeling of the glands in the
maternal decidua, may play an important role during the early stage of imp
lantation and placentation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reser
ved.