Abstract: Objective: To investigate the effect of activation of SHH signaling pathway on the apoptosis and invasion of the trophoblast cells in the preeclampsia(PE) patients,and to clarify its mechanism. Methods: The HTR8/SVneo cells were divided into normal control group,hypoxia/reoxygenation(H/R) treatment group and purmorphamine+H/R treatment group. The expression levels of SHH signaling pathway related proteins SHH,Ptch1,Smo,Gli1,and Gli3 in the placenta tissues of PE and late trimester of normal pregnancy were detected by Western blotting method;the apoptotic rates of HTR8/SVneo cells in various groups were detected by flow cytometry(FCM); Transwell assay was used to detect the number of transmembrane cells; the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2) and metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9) proteins in the HTR8/SVneo cells in various groups were detected by Western blotting method. Results: The expression levels of SHH,Ptch1,Smo,Gli1 and Gli3 proteins in the placenta tissue of PE were significantly lower than those in normal pregnancy placenta tissue (P<0.05);the expression levels of SHH,Ptch1,Smo,Gli1,Gli3,MMP-2,and MMP-9 proteins and the number of transmembrane cells in H/R treatment group were significantly lower than those in normal control group(P<0.05),and the apoptotic rate was significantly higher than that in normal control group (P<0.05); the expression levels of SHH,Ptch1,Smo,Gli1,Gli3,MMP-2,and MMP-9 proteins and the number of transmembrane cells in purmorphamine+H/R treatment group were significantly higher than those in H/R treatment group(P<0.05),and the apoptotic rate was significantly lower than that in H/R treatment group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The activation of SHH signaling pathway can reduce the apoptosis of HTR8/SVneo cells in the placental tissue of the PE patients and promote the cell invasion by up-regulating the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9.

Key words: preeclampsia, apoptosis, trophoblast cells, SHH signaling pathway, placental tissue