Expression of melatoninergic receptors in human placental choriocarcinoma cell lines

Background: Melatonin crosses the placenta and enters the fetal circulation. Moreover, experimental data suggest a possible influence of melatonin on placental function and fetal development in humans. To date, the expression and role of melatonin receptors in human placenta choriocarcinoma cell lines and in human term placental tissues remain to be elucidated.

Methods and results: Results from RT-PCR, western blotting and confocal microscopy demonstrated that the MT1, MT2 and RORalpha1 melatonin receptors are expressed in the human term placental tissues and in choriocarcinoma cell lines JEG-3 and BeWo. Furthermore, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that 6-chloromelatonin (a melatonin agonist) inhibits, in a dose-dependent manner, forskolin-stimulated hCG-beta secretion in JEG-3 (P < 0.001) and BeWo (P < 0.05) cells but had no effect on basal human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG-beta) levels. This effect of 6-chloromelatonin on forskolin-stimulated HCG-beta secretion was abolished by pertussis toxin (PTX), suggesting that melatonin regulates hCG-beta production by an action involving an inhibitory Gi/o protein. In PTX-treated BeWo cells, 6-chloromelatonin stimulated basal hCG-beta secretion (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: These results demonstrate, for the first time, the expression of melatonin receptors in human term placental tissues and in choriocarcinoma cells and suggest a possible paracrine/autocrine function for melatonin in human placenta.