Fig. 5.

Immunolocalization of differentially expressed proteins: NTS, C4ORF36 and PGPEP1. Tissue sections were immunostained for the antigen of interest and cytokeratin (CK), a trophoblast marker. Nuclei were localized with DAPI. Each panel was a confocal z-stack maximum intensity projection. (A-C) Neurotensin (NTS) was detected in a vesicular pattern localized to the apical region of syncytiotrophoblasts (STB). Within any one tissue section the vesicle density varied among regions, although no areas lacked immunoreactivity. Furthermore, no differences based on gestational age were observed. (D-F) C4ORF36, which localized to STBs, had a uniformly dense punctate pattern. No variation was observed across the second trimester. (G-I) PGPEP1 was highly upregulated in cytotrophoblast columns (CC) of anchoring villi (AV). The results shown were represented of the immunostaining observed in a minimum of three biological replicates.