53 Trophoblast cells at the uterine-placental interface

Abstract The uterine-placental interface is a dynamic site where uterine and trophoblast cells cooperate to establish a protective environment conducive to the redirection of resources facilitating development of the embryo. The rat and human possess a uterine-placental interface characterized by deep trophoblast cell infiltration into the uterine parenchyma. Invasive trophoblast cells direct changes in uterine immune, endothelial, smooth muscle, glandular epithelial, and stromal cell constituents, and effectively anchor the placenta to the uterus and restructure uterine spiral arteries. In the human, these invasive trophoblast cells are referred to as extravillous trophoblast cells. Trophoblast cell invasion and trophoblast-directed uterine spiral artery remodeling are critical events in the establishment of pregnancy. Failures in trophoblast-guided uterine transformation lead to obstetrical complications, including early pregnancy loss, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, and pre-term birth. Therefore, studying molecular mechanisms regulating development and function of the invasive trophoblast/extravillous trophoblast cell lineage is clinically relevant and is of considerable importance. Our research approach involves identification of candidate conserved regulatory pathways controlling invasive trophoblast/extravillous trophoblast cell lineage development using comparative transcriptomic approaches, evaluating the importance of the regulators using trophoblast stem cell models, and testing critical hubs within the pathways using relevant in vivo rat models. (Supported by NIH HD020676, HD105734, HD112559, and the Sosland Foundation)