CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Recently, we have reported that the blocking of AQP3 abrogatesthe apoptotic response of the trophoblast. Since trophoblast apoptosis isexacerbated in preeclampsia, we hypothesized that placental AQP3 isincreased in these placentas in order to trigger the programmed celldeath. Here, we examined mRNA levels, protein expression and localizationof AQP3 in placentas from pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia andagainst what we expected, we found that AQP3 expression was significantlyreduced, both at protein and mRNA levels, compared to normal placentas.In the light of our results, further studies are required to evaluatewhether the decreased expression of AQP3 might be an adaptive response ofthe placenta to reduce the trophoblast apoptosis, which is related to theclinical manifestations of preeclampsia.