The expression pattern of CD3 chain genes in fetal/maternal interface

In order to investigate the features of T-cell immune status in human placenta, the expression levels of CD3-gamma, -delta, -epsilon and -zeta chain genes in placenta were analyzed by real-time PCR. Umbilical cord blood obtained at delivery from the full-term healthy babies was used as a control. The beta2-microglobulin gene was employed as an endogenous reference, and the evaluations of mRNA expression level of each CD3 gene were used by the 2(-ΔC(t))×100% method. The expression level of CD3-gamma, -epsilon and -zeta genes (mean rank is 0.13, 0.34, and 0.49 respectively) from placenta were significantly lower than those from CB (P<0.0001). CD3-delta genes (mean rank is 5.71) expressed stronger from placenta than from CB (P = 0.0.895). Thus, the expression pattern of the four CD3 genes was presented as delta>zeta>epsilon> gamma from placenta and epsilon>gamma>zeta>delta from CB on the contrary. In conclusion, the present study characterized the expression pattern of CD3-gamma, -delta, -epsilon and -zeta chain genes from placenta, which contributes to further understanding of the features of T-cell immune status in placenta.