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A three-dimensional culture system recapitulates placental syncytiotrophoblast development and microbial resistance.

ABSTRACT: In eutherians, the placenta acts as a barrier and conduit at the maternal-fetal interface. Syncytiotrophoblasts, the multinucleated cells that cover the placental villous tree surfaces of the human placenta, are directly bathed in maternal blood and are formed by the fusion of progenitor cytotrophoblasts that underlie them. Despite their crucial role in fetal protection, many of the events that govern trophoblast fusion and protection from microbial infection are unknown. We describe a three-dimensional (3D)-based culture model using human JEG-3 trophoblast cells that develop syncytiotrophoblast phenotypes when cocultured with human microvascular endothelial cells. JEG-3 cells cultured in this system exhibit enhanced fusogenic activity and morphological and secretory activities strikingly similar to those of primary human syncytiotrophoblasts. RNASeq analyses extend the observed functional similarities to the transcriptome, where we observed significant overlap between syncytiotrophoblast-specific genes and 3D JEG-3 cultures. Furthermore, JEG-3 cells cultured in 3D are resistant to infection by viruses and Toxoplasma gondii, which mimics the high resistance of syncytiotrophoblasts to microbial infections in vivo. Given that this system is genetically manipulatable, it provides a new platform to dissect the mechanisms involved in syncytiotrophoblast development and microbial resistance.

SUBMITTER: McConkey CA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4783126 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A three-dimensional culture system recapitulates placental syncytiotrophoblast development and microbial resistance.

McConkey Cameron A CA Delorme-Axford Elizabeth E Nickerson Cheryl A CA Kim Kwang Sik KS Sadovsky Yoel Y Boyle Jon P JP Coyne Carolyn B CB

Science advances 20160304 3

In eutherians, the placenta acts as a barrier and conduit at the maternal-fetal interface. Syncytiotrophoblasts, the multinucleated cells that cover the placental villous tree surfaces of the human placenta, are directly bathed in maternal blood and are formed by the fusion of progenitor cytotrophoblasts that underlie them. Despite their crucial role in fetal protection, many of the events that govern trophoblast fusion and protection from microbial infection are unknown. We describe a three-dim ...[more]

PMID: 26973875

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Project description:White adipose tissue (WAT) is becoming widely used in regenerative medicine/cell therapy applications, and its physiological and pathological importance is increasingly appreciated. WAT is a complex organ composed of differentiated adipocytes, stromal mesenchymal progenitors known as adipose stromal cells (ASC), as well as endothelial vascular cells and infiltrating leukocytes. Two-dimensional (2D) culture that has been typically used for studying adipose cells does not adequately recapitulate WAT complexity. Improved methods for reconstruction of functional WAT ex vivo are instrumental for understanding of physiological interactions between the composing cell populations. Here, we used a three-dimensional (3D) levitation tissue culture system based on magnetic nanoparticle assembly to model WAT development and growth in organoids termed adipospheres. We show that 3T3-L1 preadipocytes remain viable in spheroids for a long period of time, while in 2D culture, they lose adherence and die after reaching confluence. Upon adipogenesis induction in 3T3-L1 adipospheres, cells efficiently formed large lipid droplets typical of white adipocytes in vivo, while only smaller lipid droplet formation is achievable in 2D. Adiposphere-based coculture of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes with murine endothelial bEND.3 cells led to a vascular-like network assembly concomitantly with lipogenesis in perivascular cells. Adipocyte-depleted stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of mouse WAT cultured in 3D underwent assembly into organoids with vascular-like structures containing luminal endothelial and perivascular stromal cell layers. Adipospheres made from primary WAT cells displayed robust proliferation and complex hierarchical organization reflected by a matricellular gradient incorporating ASC, endothelial cells, and leukocytes, while ASC quickly outgrew other cell types in adherent culture. Upon adipogenesis induction, adipospheres derived from the SVF displayed more efficient lipid droplet accumulation than 2D cultures. This indicates that 3D intercellular signaling better recapitulates WAT organogenesis. Combined, our studies show that adipospheres are appropriate for WAT modeling ex vivo and provide a new platform for functional screens to identify molecules bioactive toward individual adipose cell populations. This 3D methodology could be adopted for WAT transplantation applications and aid approaches to WAT-based cell therapy.

Dataset Information

A three-dimensional culture system recapitulates placental syncytiotrophoblast development and microbial resistance.

Publications

A three-dimensional culture system recapitulates placental syncytiotrophoblast development and microbial resistance.

Similar Datasets

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