Placental extracellular vesicles and media conditioned by differentiated trophoblasts significantly increased fetal heart rate and epicardial cell outgrowth in cultured mouse embryonic hearts.
Placental extracellular vesicles from differentiated trophoblasts promote fetal heart development and cardiomyocyte growth in mice, providing a mechanistic link between placental health and congenital heart defects.
p-value: p=<0.05
Congenital heart defects are leading causes of neonatal mortality and are often associated with placental abnormalities, but mechanisms linking placenta and heart development are poorly understood. Herein, we investigated a potential signaling network connecting the placenta and nascent heart in mice. We found that fetal hearts exposed to media conditioned by placental tissue or differentiated wild-type trophoblast stem (TS) cells, but not undifferentiated TS cells, showed increased heart rate and epicardial cell outgrowth. This effect was not observed when hearts were exposed to media from TS cells lacking OVO-Like 2, a transcription factor required for trophoblast differentiation and placental development. Trophoblasts released abundant extracellular vesicles into media, and these vesicles were sufficient to mediate cardio-promoting effects. Our findings provide a potential mechanism whereby the placenta communicates with the fetal heart to promote cardiac morphogenesis, and offers insight into the link between poor placentation and a higher incidence of heart defects. Poor development of the placenta is linked with heart problems. This study reveals that extracellular vesicles from placental trophoblasts promote heart development in mice, shedding light on how placental health affects cardiac formation.
Jeyarajah et al. (Thu,) conducted a other in Fetal heart development. Placental extracellular vesicles vs. Control EVs or unconditioned media was evaluated on Fetal heart rate and epicardial cell outgrowth (p=<0.05). Placental extracellular vesicles and media conditioned by differentiated trophoblasts significantly increased fetal heart rate and epicardial cell outgrowth in cultured mouse embryonic hearts.