RESUMO
Proteases are required for a multitude of cellular processes including homeostatic tissue remodelling, invasion and angiogenesis. The physiological function of a cell or tissue is reflected by the set of proteases expressed, also termed degradome. The role of proteases in invasion and angiogenesis has been studied intensively, mostly in cancer. We aimed to compare the set of proteases required for physiological invasion versus physiological angiogenesis from cells deriving from the same organ, and to identify the proteases specific for each process. The human placenta comprises trophoblasts that invade the maternal uterus in a regulated, physiological manner, and it is the source of primary endothelial cells. We isolated the trophoblasts and endothelial cells and verified their invasive phenotype and angiogenic properties, respectively. We then performed gene expression analysis of the degradome, e.g. cysteine, metallo, serine, threonine and aspartic proteases, identified the differentially expressed proteases among the trophoblasts and endothelial cells, and clustered them hierarchically. The results revealed that the set of proteases in trophoblasts versus in endothelial cells overlaps, with a total of 69% in common. Nevertheless, 42% of the studied degradomes differed, with a fold change ≥2. For instance, metalloproteinases were predominantly expressed in trophoblasts, and 31% of the proteases were exclusively expressed in either trophoblasts or endothelial cells; this suggests particular roles for these proteases in either invasion or angiogenesis. Our data identify common and distinct proteases in cells capable of performing invasion and angiogenesis, and may provide basic information for the design of techniques to specifically investigate invasion or angiogenesis.