Abstract: Objective：This study was designed to investigate the relationship between endoplasmic reticulum protein（ERp44） expression and the pathogenesis of preeclampsia in preeclampsia placental villi. Methods：Immunohistochemistry, semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the ERp44 gene and protein expression in preeclampsia and normal placental villi（both 20 cases）. Results：Immunohistochemistry showed that ERp44 staining were strongly positive in all the 20 pre-eclampsia placental villi, while the normal group showed negative staining；RT-PCR showed no significant difference in ERp44 mRNA in two groups（P＞0.05）；Western blot assay found that the ERp44 protein level in pre-eclampsia villi was significantly higher than normal group（P＜0.05）. Conclusions：The expression of ERp44 may be closely related to the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia.

Key words: Proteins, Pre-eclampsia, Placenta, Endoplasmic reticulum, Immunohistochemistry, Blotting