The Interleukin 2 Gene is Expressed in the Syncytiotrophoblast of the Human Placenta

The lymphokine interleukin 2 is an important immune system regulatory glycopolypeptide. It is produced by antigen- or mitogen-stimulated T lymphocytes and is required for the proliferation or clonal expansion of activated T lymphocytes. In this report, it is demonstrated by RNA transfer blot hybridization that the poly(A)+ RNA population of the human placenta contains a 0.85-kilobase RNA transcript that specifically hybridizes to a human interleukin 2 cDNA probe. By using hybridization histochemistry in situ, it is further shown that interleukin 2 RNA transcripts are localized, primarily, to the syncytial (syncytiotrophoblast) layer of the human placenta. Possible roles for syncytiotrophoblast-produced interleukin 2 are suggested and discussed.