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Prostate-Specific Antigen Synthesis and Secretion by Human Placenta: A Physiological Kallikrein Source during Pregnancy¹

Istituto di Istologia and Analisi di Laboratorio (M.M., F.M., F.M., G.G.) and Istituto di Scienze Morfologiche (F.L., S.P.), Facoltà di Scienze MFN, Università degli Studi di Urbino, and Divisione di Ginecologia and Ostetricia, Ospedale Civile (L.C.), 61029 Urbino, Italy

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Ferdinando Mannello, Istituto di Istologia ed Analisi di Laboratorio, Università degli Studi, Facoltà di Scienze MFN, Via E. Zeppi, 61029 Urbino (PU), Italy. E-mail: mannello{at}bio.uniurb.it

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a kallikrein-like serine protease until recently thought to be prostate specific, has been demonstrated in various nonprostatic tissues and body fluids. PSA has been also found in human endometrium and amniotic fluids, even if the significance of this novel expression is unclear. In this study, we have demonstrated by multiple techniques that human placental tissue, obtained at delivery from normal full-term pregnancies, synthesizes and secretes PSA. RT-PCR showed the presence of PSA messenger ribonucleic acid; biochemical, chromatographic, and immunological studies revealed the expression of both free and complexed PSA forms; immunoelectron microscopy indicated the syncytiotrophoblast as the site of PSA synthesis and secretion. Moreover, in vitro experiments demonstrated that PSA production and secretion are up-regulated by 17ß-estradiol, a pregnancy-related steroid hormone. These results suggest that human placenta is a source of the PSA present in amniotic fluid and maternal serum during pregnancy.

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