Double immunoelectron microscopic labelings of human chorionic gonadotropin and human placental lactogen in human chorionic villi

Abstract

Simultaneous immunoelectron microscopic localization of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and human placental lactogen (HPL) was examined on the same ultrathin section of human chorionic villi by means of the double labeling technique. Using specific rabbit antisera against HCG and HPL followed by goat anti-rabbit IgG-coated colloidal gold of different sizes (15 nm and 5 nm), immunoreactions of HCG were concentrated on middle-sized secretory granules of 200-300 nm and large dense bodies of 500-1000 nm, while those of HPL were exclusively located on small secretory granules of 80-180 nm. The present experiment provides direct evidence for our previous data that HCG and HPL seem to be stored in different granular components in the syncytiotrophoblast.