Trophobkastic cell invasion is induced by leptin involving B-catenin/WNT pathway

TAMARA FERNÁNDEZ ARANGUREN; AYELEN TORO; JULIETA MAYMO; MALENA SCHANTON; BERNARDO MASKIN; RODRIGO RIEDEL; MARIANA JAIME; CECILIA VARONE

Congreso; IFPA INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PLACENTA ASSOCIATIONS meeting 2019, VIII SLIMP 2019; 2019

Leptin is a hormone synthetized within placenta, where it is known to exert paracrine and autocrine actions. In addition, it has been shown to play a significant role at the early stages of pregnancy as it modulates critical processes such as migration and invasion of tropho- blastic cells.This work is intended to examine the mechanisms involved in the effect of leptin regulation of trophoblast invasion in placenta, focused on the b- Catenin/Wnt pathway. Swan-71 cells, a first trimester trophoblastic human cell line and human term placental explants were used. Swan-71 cells and placental explants were treated with different concentrations (50, 100 and 250 ng/ ml) of recombinant leptin during 48 h (Swan-71cells) or 20 h (placenta explants). Metalloproteinases 2 and 9 (MMP-2 and MMP9) were assessed by qRT-PCR and zymography. b-Catenin expression was determined by Western-Blot and immunofluorescence analysis. The action of XAV939 a b- Catenin/Wnt inhibitor was also used. Invasion experiments using trans- wells covered with Matrigel were also performed.We determined that leptin treatment increased MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels of mRNA and enhanced their activity. Moreover leptin treatment enhanced invasion of trophoblastic cells. The effect of leptin on the expression of b-Catenin as a possible activated pathway mediating invasion was studied. We determined that leptin treatment increased significantly the level of b-Catenin in Swan-71 cells (p