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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal Interface
Published on: July 21, 2016
Developmental origin of chorionic villus cultures from spontaneous abortion and chorionic villus sampling
Paul J Yong1, Deborah E McFadden2, Wendy P Robinson3
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia Vancouver BC; Child and Family Research Institute Vancouver BC.
Objective:
Chorionic villus cultures from spontaneous abortions and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) are routinely used for clinical cytogenetic analysis. Although these cultures are assumed to represent the chorionic villus mesenchymal core, and therefore the inner cell mass (ICM) of the blastocyst, immunochemical studies using a true trophoblast-specific marker to definitively rule out trophoblast contamination have not been done. Therefore, we used cytokeratin-7 (CK7), a trophoblast-specific marker, to assess the developmental origin of these chorionic villus cultures.
Methods:
We assessed chorionic villus cultures from CVS and spontaneous abortions for CK7 immunostaining (n = 20).
Results:
Cultures from both CVS and spontaneous abortions showed little or no CK7 staining (≤ 1%).
Conclusion:
Chorionic villus cultures from CVS and spontaneous abortions exhibit little or no trophoblast contamination. They are therefore representative of the villus mesenchymal core and ultimately originate from the ICM of the blastocyst.
