Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Comparative analysis of maternal-fetal interface in preeclampsia and preterm labor

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Cell and Tissue Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The maternal-fetal interface, a chimeric structure, is formed when fetal cytotrophoblasts (CTBs) from the placenta invade the uterine wall and its resident vasculature. In preeclampsia (PE), interstitial and endovascular invasion are often shallow, and fewer spiral arterioles are breached in toto. Our previous work has shown that faulty CTB differentiation to an invasive phenotype is a contributing factor. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that the constellation of morphological and molecular defects that are associated with PE are unique to this condition. Specifically, we have compared the histology of the maternal-fetal interface and CTB expression of stage-specific antigens in PE and in preterm labor (PTL) with or without inflammation. In the absence of inflammation, biopsies obtained after PTL were near normal at histological and molecular levels. In accord with previously published data, PE had severe negative effects on the endpoints analyzed. Biopsies obtained after PTL with inflammation had an intermediate phenotype. Our results suggest that the maternal-fetal interface from cases of PTL without inflammation can be used for comparative purposes, e.g., as age-matched controls, in studies of the effects of PE on cells in this region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ACOG (2000) ACOG practice bulletin. Intrauterine growth restriction: clinical management guidelines for obstetrician-gynecologists. Am College Obstet Gynecol 12:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander GR, Himes JH, Kaufman RB, Mor J, Kogan M (1996) A United States national reference for fetal growth. Obstet Gynecol 87:163–168

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Benirschke K, Kaufmann P (2000) Pathology of the human placenta. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brosens IA, Robertson WB, Dixon HG (1972) The role of the spiral arteries in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Obstet Gynecol Annu 1:177–191

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chesley LC (1985) Diagnosis of preeclampsia. Obstet Gynecol 65:423–425

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher S, Genbacev O, Maidji E, Pereira L (2000) Human cytomegalovirus infection of placental cytotrophoblasts in vitro and in utero: implications for transmission and pathogenesis. J Virol 74:6808–6820

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Genbacev O, Zhou Y, Ludlow JW, Fisher SJ (1997) Regulation of human placental development by oxygen tension. Science 277:1669–1672

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gerretsen G, Huisjes HJ, Elema JD (1981) Morphological changes of the spiral arteries in the placental bed in relation to pre-eclampsia and fetal growth retardation. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 88:876–881

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goldenberg RL, Rouse DJ (1998) Prevention of premature birth. N Engl J Med 339:313–320

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goldman-Wohl DS, Ariel I, Greenfield C, Hochner-Celnikier D, Cross J, Fisher S, Yagel S (2000) Lack of human leukocyte antigen-G expression in extravillous trophoblasts is associated with pre-eclampsia. Mol Hum Reprod 6:88–95

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez O, Martinez JM, Figueras F, Del Rio M, Borobio V, Puerto B, Coll O, Cararach V, Vanrell JA (2005) Uterine artery Doppler at 11–14 weeks of gestation to screen for hypertensive disorders and associated complications in an unselected population. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 26:490–494

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Herron MA, Katz M, Creasy RK (1982) Evaluation of a preterm birth prevention program: preliminary report. Obstet Gynecol 59:452–456

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hershkovitz R, Swiet M de, Kingdom J (2005) Mid-trimester placentation assessment in high-risk pregnancies using maternal serum screening and uterine artery Doppler. Hypertens Pregnancy 24:273–280

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hiby SE, Walker JJ, O’Shaughnessy KM, Redman CW, Carrington M, Trowsdale J, Moffett A (2004) Combinations of maternal KIR and fetal HLA-C genes influence the risk of preeclampsia and reproductive success. J Exp Med 200:957–965

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Janatpour MJ, Utset MF, Cross JC, Rossant J, Dong J, Israel MA, Fisher SJ (1999) A repertoire of differentially expressed transcription factors that offers insight into mechanisms of human cytotrophoblast differentiation. Dev Genet 25:146–157

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann P, Huppertz B, Frank HG (1996) The fibrinoids of the human placenta: origin, composition and functional relevance. Ann Anat 178:485–501

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khong TY, De Wolf F, Robertson WB, Brosens I (1986) Inadequate maternal vascular response to placentation in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia and by small-for-gestational age infants. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 93:1049–1059

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lain KY, Roberts JM (2002) Contemporary concepts of the pathogenesis and management of preeclampsia. JAMA 287:3183–3186

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lam C, Lim KH, Karumanchi SA (2005) Circulating angiogenic factors in the pathogenesis and prediction of preeclampsia. Hypertension 46:1077–1085

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McMaster MT, Librach CL, Zhou Y, Lim KH, Janatpour MJ, DeMars R, Kovats S, Damsky C, Fisher SJ (1995) Human placental HLA-G expression is restricted to differentiated cytotrophoblasts. J Immunol 154:3771–3778

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McMaster MT, Zhou Y, Fisher SJ (2004) Abnormal placentation and the syndrome of preeclampsia. Semin Nephrol 24:540–547

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moodley J, Ramsaroop R (1989) Placental bed morphology in black women with eclampsia. S Afr Med J 75:376–378

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Naicker T, Khedun SM, Moodley J, Pijnenborg R (2003) Quantitative analysis of trophoblast invasion in preeclampsia. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 82:722–729

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ness RB, Roberts JM (1996) Heterogeneous causes constituting the single syndrome of preeclampsia: a hypothesis and its implications. Am J Obstet Gynecol 175:1365–1370

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Red-Horse K, Zhou Y, Genbacev O, Prakobphol A, Foulk R, McMaster M, Fisher SJ (2004) Trophoblast differentiation during embryo implantation and formation of the maternal fetal interface. J Clin Invest 114:744–754

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Redman CW, Sargent IL (2005) Latest advances in understanding preeclampsia. Science 308:1592–1594

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JM (1998) Endothelial dysfunction in preeclampsia. Semin Reprod Endocrinol 16:5–15

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JM, Cooper DW (2001) Pathogenesis and genetics of pre-eclampsia. Lancet 357:53–56

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JM, Gammill HS (2005) Preeclampsia: recent insights. Hypertension 46:1243–1249

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JM, Taylor RN, Musci TJ, Rodgers GM, Hubel CA, McLaughlin MK (1989) Preeclampsia: an endothelial cell disorder. Am J Obstet Gynecol 161:1200–1204

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts JM, Pearson G, Cutler J, Lindheimer M (2003) Summary of the NHLBI working group on research on hypertension during pregnancy. Hypertension 41:437–445

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rodie VA, Freeman DJ, Sattar N, Greer IA (2004) Pre-eclampsia and cardiovascular disease: metabolic syndrome of pregnancy? Atherosclerosis 175:189–202

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sibai BM (1990) The HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets): much ado about nothing? Am J Obstet Gynecol 162:311–316

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sibai BM (1996) Treatment of hypertension in pregnant women. N Engl J Med 335:257–265

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sibai BM, Ewell M, Levine RJ, Klebanoff MA, Esterlitz J, Catalano PM, Goldenberg RL, Joffe G (1997) Risk factors associated with preeclampsia in healthy nulliparous women. The Calcium for Preeclampsia Prevention (CPEP) Study Group. Am J Obstet Gynecol 177:1003–1010

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stella CL, Sibai BM (2006) Preeclampsia: diagnosis and management of the atypical presentation. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med 19:381–386

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tenney B, Parker F (1940) The placenta in toxemia of pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol 39:1000–1005

    Google Scholar 

  • Winn VD, Haimov-Kochman R, Paquet AC, Yang J, Madhusudhan MS, Gormley M, Feng KT, Bernlohr DA, McDonagh S, Pereira L, Sali A, Fisher SJ (2007) Gene expression profiling of the human maternal-fetal interface reveals dramatic changes between midgestation and term. Endocrinology 148:1059–1079

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Y, Damsky CH, Chiu K, Roberts JM, Fisher SJ (1993) Preeclampsia is associated with abnormal expression of adhesion molecules by invasive cytotrophoblasts. J Clin Invest 91:950–960

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Y, Damsky CH, Fisher SJ (1997) Preeclampsia is associated with failure of human cytotrophoblasts to mimic a vascular adhesion phenotype. One cause of defective endovascular invasion in this syndrome? J Clin Invest 99:2152–2164

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Kurt Benirschke (University of California San Diego) for invaluable assistance with study design and data interpretation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Yan Zhou, Ling Huang, Michael McMaster & Susan J. Fisher

  2. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Katherine Bianco & Susan J. Fisher

  3. Perinatology Research Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health/Department of Health and Human Services, Detroit, MI, USA

    Jyh K. Nien & Roberto Romero

  4. Department of Anatomy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Susan J. Fisher

  5. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Susan J. Fisher

  6. University of California San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, HSE-1619, San Francisco, CA 94143-0512, USA

    Susan J. Fisher

Authors
  1. Yan Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Katherine Bianco
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ling Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jyh K. Nien
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michael McMaster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Roberto Romero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Susan J. Fisher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan J. Fisher.

Additional information

This work was supported by the Intramural Division of NICHD (Perinatology Research Branch) and HD 30367.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhou, Y., Bianco, K., Huang, L. et al. Comparative analysis of maternal-fetal interface in preeclampsia and preterm labor. Cell Tissue Res 329, 559–569 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0428-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0428-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation