Objective To investigate the regulatory effect of all ⁃trans retinoic acid（ATRA）on soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1（sFlt⁃1）and its effect on the invasion and angiogenesis of human pla⁃ cental trophoblast cells. Methods HTR⁃8/SVneo cells were treated with 0.15 μM ATRA for 12，24，48 and 72 h， then the expression levels of sFlt⁃1 mRNA and protein were detected by RT⁃PCR and ELISA. HTR⁃8/SVneo cells were infected with sFlt⁃1 overexpresses lentivirus，and treated with 0.15 μmol/L ATRA for 24 h. The protein con⁃ tents of sFlt⁃1，PIGF and VEGF in the cell culture supernatant were detected by ELISA. The abilities of invasion and migration were detected by transwell assay. The pro⁃angiogenesis ability of cells in vitro was tested by tubule formation assay. The protein expression levels of MMP ⁃ 2 and MMP ⁃ 9 were detected by Western blot. Results ATRA inhibited the mRNA expression and protein secretion of sflt ⁃ 1 in HTR ⁃8/SVneo cells in a time ⁃dependent manner；After ATRA treatment，the content of sFlt⁃1 protein in the cell supernatant of HTR⁃8/SVneo cells was de⁃ creased（P < 0.05），and the protein contents of PIGF and VEGF were increased（P < 0.05），the abilities of inva⁃ sion and migration，the number of vascularization tubes and the protein expression levels of MMP ⁃ 9 and MMP ⁃2 were increased（P < 0.05）. However，overexpression of sFLT⁃1 inhibited the intervention effect of ATRA on HTR⁃ 8/SVneo cells. Conclusion ATRA enhances trophoblast cell invasion and angiogenesis by inhibiting sflt⁃1 expres⁃ sion.