Collagen and fibronectin synthesis by trisomic and triploid fibroblasts from human spontaneous abortuses

Collagen and fibronectin synthesis by trisomic and triploid fibroblasts derived from human spontaneous abortuses was studied. It was demonstrated that the level of fibronectin and collagen production in fibroblasts with trisomy 7, trisomy 9, and triploidy was reduced as compared with diploid cells. A correlation between this observation and an increased rate of intracellular 14C-procollagen degradation was also established for the anomalous strains. No difference in hydroxylation of 14C-proline residues in alpha 1(I) and alpha 2(I) collagen chains and no fluctuation in the collagen type (I): type III ratio was found in the strains with the abnormal karyotypes. It was concluded that differentiation of the abnormal fibroblasts was impaired. The data also favour the hypothesis that the deficiency of the fibroblasts in producing proteins may account for a variety of anatomic abnormalities of embryos.