CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The placenta is a transient organ which serves important functions during thedevelopment of the fetus. Trophoblast cells develop along a multilineage differentiation pathway, and their growth and differentiation are essential to the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy.The proliferation, migration, invasion and the remodeling of the spiral arteries by the extravillous trophoblast (EVT) are critical processes for a successful pregnancy. Alterations in any of these events can lead to gestational pathologies such as preeclampsia.Many authors have demonstrated that the hyperosmolarity of the medium induced cells differentiation in different tissues. Our hypothesis is that the stress hyperosmolar modulates EVT during placentation.AimsThe aim of this study was to explore the effect of the stress hyperosmolar on the EVTs migration, invasion and endovascular differentiation.MethodsSwan-71 cell line (human extravillous trophoblast cells) was cultured in complete DMEM-F12 and sucrose hyperosmolar solution was added for 24 h.Cell migration was evaluated by the wound healing assay, activity of metalloproteinases (MMPs) by zymography, the invasion was evaluated in transwells pre-coated with Matrigel® and endovascular differentiation was analyzed by the formation of tube-like structures in plates coated with Matrigel.ResultsIn hyperosmolar conditions, Swan-71 cell migration, MMPs activity, and invasiondecreased (33 ± 4%, 75 ± 8%, and 45 ± 6%, respectively compared to iso-osmolarcondition; P<0.01, n = 6). Accordingly, tube-like formations were also significantly decreased (P<0.05, n = 5).ConclusionsOur results proposed that stress hyperosmolar may modulate trophoblast differentiation at early stages of human placenta development. Thus, alterations in the tightly-controlled osmoregulation of the environment might lead to insufficient placentation associated to preeclamptic placentas.