Uptake and metabolism of epidermal growth factor in the perfused human placenta.

Uptake of 125I-labelled epidermal growth factor into trophoblast, and its subsequent fate, was studied in an isolated dually-perfused lobule of term human placenta. 125I-EGF added into the maternal circulation was rapidly taken up into the placental tissue where a portion was degraded and most of the breakdown products released back into the maternal circuit. At the end of the 2 h perfusion, radioactivity in the tissue accounted for 52% of the initial dose. 12.9% of the radioactivity remaining in the maternal circuit at the end of the perfusion, amounting to only 5.2% of the initial activity, could be identified as intact EGF by immunoaffinity chromatography. About 45 min after the start of the perfusion there was a sustained rise in the 125I activity in the fetal circulation accounting for 4.6% of the initial activity, and a small proportion of this (0.22% of the dose) could be immunologically characterised as EGF. In the presence of the acidotrophic agent chloroquine, there was a similar rapid clearance from the maternal circulation, which was not associated with breakdown. The tissue retention was slightly enhanced and there was very little transfer of activity into the fetal circulation.