CD98 heavy chain (CD98hc) is expressed highly in developing human placental trophoblast. CD98hc is an amino acid transporter, and is thought to function in cell fusion, adhesion and invasion by interacting with integrins. In invasive extravillous trophoblast, _v3 integrin is expressed in temporally and spatially specific manner, which prompted us to investigate the potential role of CD98hc in signal transduction of _v3 integrin. Immunocytochemistry of extravillous trophoblast derived from human placenta revealed that CD98hc co-localized with _v3 integrin, and with _v3-associated cytoplasmic proteins including paxillin, vinculin and FAK. Co-immunoprecipitation of CD98hc and its mutants revealed that the transmembrane domain of CD98hc is necessary for the association of CD98hc with _v3 integrin. When CD98hc negative liver cells (FLC4) were stably transfected with CD98hc and the extracellular domain of CD98hc was cross-linked by anti-CD98 antibody, FLC4 cells binding affinity to fibronectin and cell motility increased. The anti-CD98 antibody cross-linking promoted actin stress fiber formation and activation of signal transduction downstream of RhoA GTPase, and elevated the phosphorylation of FAK, paxillin, and protein kinase B (AKT). Pretreatment of transfected FLC4 cells with specific inhibitors for _v3integrin, phosphoinositol 3-OH kinase (PI3-K) and RhoA diminished these effects caused by anti-CD98 antibody cross-linking. These results suggest that notoriously invasive activity of extravillous trophoblast is mediated by CD98hc, which promotes _v3integrin-dependent signals.