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Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia E... Jun 2021Placental pathophysiology in SARS-CoV-2 infection can help researchers understand more about the infection and its impact on the maternal/neonatal outcomes. This brief... (Review)
Review
Placental pathophysiology in SARS-CoV-2 infection can help researchers understand more about the infection and its impact on the maternal/neonatal outcomes. This brief review provides an overview about some aspects of the placental pathology in SARS-CoV-2 infection. In total, 11 papers were included. The current literature suggests that there are no specific histopathological characteristics in the placenta related to SARS-CoV-2 infection, but placentas from infected women are more likely to show findings of maternal and/or fetal malperfusion. The most common findings in placentas from infected women were fibrin deposition and intense recruitment of inflammatory infiltrates. The transplacental transmission of this virus is unlikely to occur, probably due to low expression of the receptor for SARS-CoV-2 in placental cell types. Further studies are needed to improve our knowledge about the interaction between the virus and the mother-fetus dyad and the impact on maternal and neonatal/fetal outcomes.
Topics: COVID-19; Female; Humans; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; Placenta; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious
PubMed: 34077991
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1730291 -
Reproduction (Cambridge, England) Dec 2020Human placenta is a complex and heterogeneous organ interfacing between the mother and the fetus that supports fetal development. Alterations to placental structural... (Review)
Review
Human placenta is a complex and heterogeneous organ interfacing between the mother and the fetus that supports fetal development. Alterations to placental structural components are associated with various pregnancy complications. To reveal the heterogeneity among various placenta cell types in normal and diseased placentas, as well as elucidate molecular interactions within a population of placental cells, a new genomics technology called single cell RNA-seq (or scRNA-seq) has been employed in the last couple of years. Here we review the principles of scRNA-seq technology, and summarize the recent human placenta studies at scRNA-seq level across gestational ages as well as in pregnancy complications, such as preterm birth and preeclampsia. We list the computational analysis platforms and resources available for the public use. Lastly, we discuss the future areas of interest for placenta single cell studies, as well as the data analytics needed to accomplish them.
Topics: Female; Fetal Development; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gestational Age; Humans; Placenta; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Single-Cell Analysis
PubMed: 33112783
DOI: 10.1530/REP-20-0231 -
Biology of Reproduction Jul 2022The placenta is the interface between the fetal and maternal environments during mammalian gestation, critically safeguarding the health of the developing fetus and the... (Review)
Review
The placenta is the interface between the fetal and maternal environments during mammalian gestation, critically safeguarding the health of the developing fetus and the mother. Placental trophoblasts origin from embryonic trophectoderm that differentiates into various trophoblastic subtypes through villous and extravillous pathways. The trophoblasts actively interact with multiple decidual cells and immune cells at the maternal-fetal interface and thus construct fundamental functional units, which are responsible for blood perfusion, maternal-fetal material exchange, placental endocrine, immune tolerance, and adequate defense barrier against pathogen infection. Various pregnant complications are tightly associated with the defects in placental development and function maintenance. In this review, we summarize the current views and our recent progress on the mechanisms underlying the formation of placental functional units, the interactions among trophoblasts and various uterine cells, as well as the placental barrier against pathogen infections during pregnancy. The involvement of placental dysregulation in adverse pregnancy outcomes is discussed.
Topics: Animals; Female; Fetus; Mammals; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Placenta; Pregnancy; Trophoblasts
PubMed: 35552600
DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioac095 -
Cells, Tissues, Organs 2016The placenta is a temporal, dynamic and diverse organ with important immunological features that facilitate embryonic and fetal development and survival, notwithstanding... (Review)
Review
The placenta is a temporal, dynamic and diverse organ with important immunological features that facilitate embryonic and fetal development and survival, notwithstanding the fact that several aspects of its formation and function closely resemble tumor progression. Placentation in mammals is commonly used to characterize the evolution of species, including insights into human evolution. Although most placentas are discarded after birth, they are a high-yield source for the isolation of stem/progenitor cells and are rich in extracellular matrix (ECM), representing an important resource for regenerative medicine purposes. Interactions among cells, ECM and bioactive molecules regulate tissue and organ generation and comprise the foundation of tissue engineering. In the present article, differences among several mammalian species regarding the placental types and classifications, phenotypes and potency of placenta-derived stem/progenitor cells, placental ECM components and current placental ECM applications were reviewed to highlight their potential clinical and biomedical relevance.
Topics: Animals; Cell Differentiation; Extracellular Matrix; Female; Humans; Placenta; Placentation; Pregnancy; Regenerative Medicine; Stem Cells; Tissue Engineering
PubMed: 27050810
DOI: 10.1159/000443636 -
Environmental Toxicology and... Apr 2019Cadmium is a non-essential trace metal that has strong teratogenic and mutagenic effects in living organisms. The content is more highly enriched in women than in men... (Review)
Review
Cadmium is a non-essential trace metal that has strong teratogenic and mutagenic effects in living organisms. The content is more highly enriched in women than in men and can enter the embryo through the placenta and destroy the placenta's morphological structure, resulting in fetal growth restriction. In this report, we review published data linking pregnancy exposure to cadmium to placenta and fetal growth and development toxicity and summarize the related mechanisms. An understanding of how cadmium exposure contributes to placental and fetal development is necessary for the development of prevention and control strategies for fetal development defects caused by cadmium exposure during pregnancy.
Topics: Animals; Cadmium; Embryonic Development; Environmental Pollutants; Female; Humans; Placenta; Placentation; Pregnancy
PubMed: 30797179
DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2019.02.006 -
International Journal of Molecular... May 2020Placental homeostasis is directly linked to fetal well-being and normal fetal growth. Placentas are sensitive to various environmental stressors, including hypoxia,... (Review)
Review
Placental homeostasis is directly linked to fetal well-being and normal fetal growth. Placentas are sensitive to various environmental stressors, including hypoxia, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and oxidative stress. Once placental homeostasis is disrupted, the placenta may rebel against the mother and fetus. Autophagy is an evolutionally conservative mechanism for the maintenance of cellular and organic homeostasis. Evidence suggests that autophagy plays a crucial role throughout pregnancy, including fertilization, placentation, and delivery in human and mouse models. This study reviews the available literature discussing the role of autophagy in preeclampsia.
Topics: Autophagy; Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress; Female; Homeostasis; Humans; Oxidative Stress; Placenta; Pre-Eclampsia; Pregnancy; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 32392703
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21093298 -
Tissue & Cell Jun 2024GATA3 plays critical roles in the development and function of various tissues and organs throughout the body. Likewise, TGF-β signaling is critical for placental...
GATA3 plays critical roles in the development and function of various tissues and organs throughout the body. Likewise, TGF-β signaling is critical for placental development and can interact with GATA3. We aimed to investigate the involvement of the multifunctional cytokine and transcription factor in trophoblast development. By using immunohistochemistry, we evaluated the localization and expression level of GATA3 and TGF-β in placentas at term of normal pregnancy and with pre-eclampsia. Up-regulation of both GATA3 and TGF-β was observed in pathological placentas, with localization in the villus epithelium (syncytiotrophoblast) stroma and decidua. Our data show altered expression of TGF-β and GATA3, which downstream could lead to a cascade of events that negatively influence trophoblast development and contribute to the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia.
Topics: Pre-Eclampsia; Humans; Pregnancy; Female; GATA3 Transcription Factor; Placenta; Transforming Growth Factor beta; Adult; Trophoblasts
PubMed: 38759523
DOI: 10.1016/j.tice.2024.102402 -
The Indian Journal of Medical Research Oct 2023Pre-eclampsia (PE), a multifactorial de novo hypertensive pregnancy disorder, is one of the leading causes of foeto-maternal morbidity and mortality. Currently,... (Review)
Review
Pre-eclampsia (PE), a multifactorial de novo hypertensive pregnancy disorder, is one of the leading causes of foeto-maternal morbidity and mortality. Currently, antihypertensive drugs are the first-line therapy for PE and evidence suggests that low-dose aspirin initiated early in high risk pregnancies may reduce the risk of development or severity of PE. However, an early prediction of this disorder remains an unmet clinical challenge. Several potential serum biomarkers associated with maternal immunoregulation and placental angiogenesis have been evaluated but are ineffective and inconsistent for early prediction. Although placental biomarkers would be more specific and sensitive in predicting the risk of PE, accessing the placenta during pregnancy is not feasible. Circulating placental exosomes (pEXO), originating from foeto-maternal interface, are being evaluated as the placenta's surrogate and the best source of non-invasive placental biomarkers. pEXO appear in the maternal circulation starting from six weeks of gestation and its dynamic biological cargo across pregnancy is associated with successful pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, monitoring changes in pEXO expression profiles could provide new insights into the prediction, diagnosis and treatment of PE. This narrative review comprehensively summarizes the available literature on the candidate predictive circulating biomarkers evaluated for PE to date. In particular, the review elucidates the current knowledge of distinct molecular signatures emanating from pEXO in pre-eclamptic women to support the discovery of novel early predictive biomarkers for effective intervention and management of the disease.
Topics: Pregnancy; Female; Humans; Placenta; Pre-Eclampsia; Exosomes; Pregnancy Outcome; Biomarkers; Hypertension
PubMed: 37987999
DOI: 10.4103/ijmr.ijmr_2143_22 -
Placenta Apr 2018There is now a basic understanding of the driving forces and mechanisms underlying rates of solute exchange across the placenta but there are still major gaps in... (Review)
Review
There is now a basic understanding of the driving forces and mechanisms underlying rates of solute exchange across the placenta but there are still major gaps in knowledge. Here we summarise this basic understanding, whilst highlighting gaps in knowledge. We then focus on two particular areas where more knowledge is needed: (1) the electrical potential difference (PD) across the placenta and (2) the paracellular permeability of the placenta to hydrophilic solutes. In many species a PD has been recorded between a catheter in a maternal blood vessel and one in a fetal vessel. However, the key question is whether this PD is the same as that across the placental exchange barrier. We addressed this in the human placenta using microelectrodes to measure the PD in isolated villi in vitro; the transtrophoblast PD so measured had a median value of -3 mV (range 0-15 mV). There have been no subsequent studies to validate this measurement. The syncytiotrophoblast of haemochorial placentas lacks any obvious extracellular water filled paracellular space between the syncytial nuclei. However, in mouse, rat, guinea pig and human there is an inverse relationship between the rate of diffusion of inert hydrophilic solutes across the placenta and their molecular size. The simplest explanation is that a paracellular route exists but its morphological identity is still uncertain. Areas of syncytial denudation could provide a paracellular route but this has not been proven. Answers to these and similar questions are required to fully understand the exchange physiology of the normal placenta and how this is affected in pathology.
Topics: Animals; Female; Humans; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Permeability; Placenta; Pregnancy; Trophoblasts
PubMed: 29370939
DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2018.01.006 -
Current Drug Targets 2017Preeclampsia, a gestational disease characterized by hypertension and proteinuria twenty weeks into pregnancy, is one of the leading causes of fetal and maternal... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Preeclampsia, a gestational disease characterized by hypertension and proteinuria twenty weeks into pregnancy, is one of the leading causes of fetal and maternal mortality. Although multiple genetic and environmental factors are found to be related to the preeclampsia risk, the pathogenic pathways remain largely undefined. The placenta plays a critical role in the fetal development by carrying out the barrier, fetal-maternal exchange, and endocrine functions during pregnancy. Accumulated data indicated that the expression of multiple long noncoding RNA (LncRNA) is dysregulated in preeclamptic placentas. Moreover, manipulation of LncRNA expression led to functional alterations in trophoblast cell cultures, including changes in proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and migration.
OBJECTIVE
This article reviews published data on this subject and provides detailed information on the regulation and function of LncRNAs IGF2/H19, MEG3, SPRY4-IT1, HOTAIR, MALAT1, and FLT1P1 and CEACAMP8 in placental trophoblasts. The potential mechanisms underlying the action of these LncRNAs are also discussed to facilitate a better understanding on the potential role of these LncRNAs for the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.
CONCLUSION
It is elaborated that some lncRNAs probably contribute to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia through methylation, Notch-EGFL7 signaling pathway and Wnt/β-catenin pathway.
Topics: Apoptosis; Cell Differentiation; Cell Movement; Cell Proliferation; Female; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Placenta; Pre-Eclampsia; Pregnancy; RNA, Long Noncoding; Signal Transduction; Trophoblasts
PubMed: 28382860
DOI: 10.2174/1389450118666170404160000