Abstract: Objective Placental barrier is the nutrients and certain drugs,pathogens,hormones from the mother into the baby's only way. Isolated and cultured trophoblast cells in vitro to study its function and material exchange between maternal and fetal specific molecular mechanism of the cellular basis. The purpose of this study is to explore the in vitro isolation and culture of human placental trophoblast cells infected with hepatitis C virus （HCV） after HCV NS5 in trophoblast cell-specific expression. Methods Trophoblastic cells have been prepared from human term placentae digested with trypsin,and centrifuged on Percoll gradient. Trophoblastic cells were incubated in HCV positive serum,and then the HCV infection of syncytiotroblasts was detected with RT-PCR. Ultrastructure characteristics were observed with laser confocal microscopy. Results The HCV RNA was intermittently detected in the supernatent of the culture medium during the 40 days culture. The antibody of HCV NS5 could be observed around the nucleus with laser confocal microscopy. Conclusion Infected with HCV present in human trophoblast cells expressing HCV NS5. To further in-depth study of HCV molecular mechanism of mother to child transmission to lay an experimental basis.

Key words: Hepatitis C virus, Human placental trophoblast cells, Confocal microscopy, In vitro