CD81 enhances the adhesion of trophoblasts and related mechanisms

Objective To explore the effect of CD81 on trophoblast adhesion and related mechanisms, in order to determine the role of CD81 in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.Methods A human first-trimester-derived trophoblast cell line (HTR-8/SVneo cells) was cultivated in vitro before transfection with adenovirus Ad-CD81 which highly expressed CD81 or si-CD81 which inhibited endogenous CD81 through interference RNA. Then, the ability of cell adhesion was detected by adhesion assay. The expression of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in HTR-8/SVneo cells was detected by Western blot. Results Compared with Ad-CTL-infected cells, Ad-CD81- infected HTR-8/SVneo cells showed enhanced adhesion ability and increased optical density at 570 nm (P<0.05). Compared with si-CTL-transfected cells, si-CTL-transfected HTR-8/SVneo cells presented weakened adhesion ability and decreased optical density at 570 nm (P<0.05). Furthermore, with the increase of concentration gradients, the expression of FAK was down-regulated in the Ad-CD81-infected HTR-8/SVneo cells, but up-regulated in the si-CD81-transfected cells(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Conclusions CD81 can enhance the adhesion of trophoblasts, which may be associated with its inhibitory effect on FAK expression in trophoblasts.