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Establishment of an in vitro placental barrier model cultured under physiologically relevant oxygen levels.

ABSTRACT: The human placental barrier facilitates many key functions during pregnancy, most notably the exchange of all substances between the mother and fetus. However, preclinical models of the placental barrier often lacked the multiple cell layers, syncytialization of the trophoblast cells and the low oxygen levels that are present within the body. Therefore, we aimed to design and develop an in vitro model of the placental barrier that would reinstate these factors and enable improved investigations of barrier function. BeWo placental trophoblastic cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells were co-cultured on contralateral sides of an extracellular matrix-coated transwell insert to establish a multilayered barrier. Epidermal growth factor and forskolin led to significantly increased multi-nucleation of the BeWo cell layer and increased biochemical markers of syncytial fusion, for example syncytin-1 and hCG?. Our in vitro placental barrier possessed size-specific permeability, with 4000-Da molecules experiencing greater transport and a lower apparent permeability coefficient than 70?000-Da molecules. We further demonstrated that the BeWo layer had greater resistance to smaller molecules compared to the endothelial layer. Chronic, physiologically low oxygen exposure (3-8%) increased the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1? and syncytin-1, further increased multi-nucleation of the BeWo cell layer and decreased barrier permeability only against smaller molecules (457 Da/4000 Da). In conclusion, we built a novel in vitro co-culture model of the placental barrier that possessed size-specific permeability and could function under physiologically low oxygen levels. Importantly, this will enable future researchers to better study the maternal-fetal transport of nutrients and drugs during pregnancy.

SUBMITTER: Wong MK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7227181 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Establishment of an in vitro placental barrier model cultured under physiologically relevant oxygen levels.

Wong Michael K MK Li Edward W EW Adam Mohamed M Selvaganapathy Ponnambalam R PR Raha Sandeep S

Molecular human reproduction 20200501 5

The human placental barrier facilitates many key functions during pregnancy, most notably the exchange of all substances between the mother and fetus. However, preclinical models of the placental barrier often lacked the multiple cell layers, syncytialization of the trophoblast cells and the low oxygen levels that are present within the body. Therefore, we aimed to design and develop an in vitro model of the placental barrier that would reinstate these factors and enable improved investigations ...[more]

PMID: 32159799

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Project description:Background: Animal-based studies indicate that Bisphenol A (BPA) exposure is detrimental to reproductive health, but its impact on the earliest stages of germ cell development remain poorly defined. Objective: Using a murine in vitro model of early germ cell specification and differentiation, we sought to assess whether exposure to low levels of BPA prior to Primordial Germ Cell (PGC) formation alters their differentiation trajectory and unique molecular program. Methods: We used an established method of in vitro differentiation of mouse Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs) into Epiblast-like Cells (EpiLCs) followed by PGC-Like Cells (PGCLCs) which together recapitulates defined stages of early germ cell development. Cellular consequences were determined using hemocytometer-based cell counting, fixation and intracellular staining followed by flow cytometry/FACS on cells exposed to increasing doses of BPA. We also generated RNA-seq libraries from RNA extracted from FACS-purified PGCLCs and performed transcriptome analysis using bioinformatics-based approaches, to interrogate and characterise gene expression changes resulting from BPA exposure. Results: Exposure of EpiLCs to BPA resulted in a dose-dependent increase in cell number, associated with an increase proportion of cells in S-phase as well as a reduced proportion undergoing apoptosis. Exposure also resulted in a greater proportion of EpiLCs showing signs of DNA damage. Remarkably, EpiLC exposure did not negatively impact PGC specification and resulted in dose-dependent increase in PGCLC proliferation. However, PGCLC transcriptome analysis revealed an aberrant program with significant deregulation of X-linked genes and retrotransposon expression. Differential gene expression analysis also revealed the deregulation of genes associated with lipid metabolism as well as deregulated expression of genes associated with later stages of gametogenesis. Conclusions: Our findings represent the first characterisation of the consequences of early BPA exposure on a model of PGC development, highlighting altered cell behaviour and underlying pathways and molecular processes.

Dataset Information

Establishment of an in vitro placental barrier model cultured under physiologically relevant oxygen levels.

Publications

Establishment of an in vitro placental barrier model cultured under physiologically relevant oxygen levels.

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