Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse Models

The placenta is the chief regulator of nutrient supply to the growing embryo during gestation. As such, adequate placental function is instrumental for developmental progression throughout intrauterine development. One of the most common complications during pregnancy is insufficient growth of the f...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Laura Woods, Vicente Perez-Garcia, Myriam Hemberger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-09-01
Series:Frontiers in Endocrinology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fendo.2018.00570/full
_version_ 1818189246533468160
author Laura Woods
Laura Woods
Vicente Perez-Garcia
Vicente Perez-Garcia
Myriam Hemberger
Myriam Hemberger
author_facet Laura Woods
Laura Woods
Vicente Perez-Garcia
Vicente Perez-Garcia
Myriam Hemberger
Myriam Hemberger
author_sort Laura Woods
collection DOAJ
description The placenta is the chief regulator of nutrient supply to the growing embryo during gestation. As such, adequate placental function is instrumental for developmental progression throughout intrauterine development. One of the most common complications during pregnancy is insufficient growth of the fetus, a problem termed intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) that is most frequently rooted in a malfunctional placenta. Together with conventional gene targeting approaches, recent advances in screening mouse mutants for placental defects, combined with the ability to rapidly induce mutations in vitro and in vivo by CRISPR-Cas9 technology, has provided new insights into the contribution of the genome to normal placental development. Most importantly, these data have demonstrated that far more genes are required for normal placentation than previously appreciated. Here, we provide a summary of common types of placental defects in established mouse mutants, which will help us gain a better understanding of the genes impacting on human placentation. Based on a recent mouse mutant screen, we then provide examples on how these data can be mined to identify novel molecular hubs that may be critical for placental development. Given the close association between placental defects and abnormal cardiovascular and brain development, these functional nodes may also shed light onto the etiology of birth defects that co-occur with placental malformations. Taken together, recent insights into the regulation of mouse placental development have opened up new avenues for research that will promote the study of human pregnancy conditions, notably those based on defects in placentation that underlie the most common pregnancy pathologies such as IUGR and pre-eclampsia.
first_indexed 2024-12-11T23:39:46Z
format Article
id doaj.art-88393b1ecf0141dcb3ba756cb95d540b
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1664-2392
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-11T23:39:46Z
publishDate 2018-09-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Endocrinology
spelling doaj.art-88393b1ecf0141dcb3ba756cb95d540b2022-12-22T00:45:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Endocrinology1664-23922018-09-01910.3389/fendo.2018.00570416241Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse ModelsLaura Woods0Laura Woods1Vicente Perez-Garcia2Vicente Perez-Garcia3Myriam Hemberger4Myriam Hemberger5Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United KingdomCentre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomEpigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United KingdomCentre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomEpigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United KingdomCentre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomThe placenta is the chief regulator of nutrient supply to the growing embryo during gestation. As such, adequate placental function is instrumental for developmental progression throughout intrauterine development. One of the most common complications during pregnancy is insufficient growth of the fetus, a problem termed intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) that is most frequently rooted in a malfunctional placenta. Together with conventional gene targeting approaches, recent advances in screening mouse mutants for placental defects, combined with the ability to rapidly induce mutations in vitro and in vivo by CRISPR-Cas9 technology, has provided new insights into the contribution of the genome to normal placental development. Most importantly, these data have demonstrated that far more genes are required for normal placentation than previously appreciated. Here, we provide a summary of common types of placental defects in established mouse mutants, which will help us gain a better understanding of the genes impacting on human placentation. Based on a recent mouse mutant screen, we then provide examples on how these data can be mined to identify novel molecular hubs that may be critical for placental development. Given the close association between placental defects and abnormal cardiovascular and brain development, these functional nodes may also shed light onto the etiology of birth defects that co-occur with placental malformations. Taken together, recent insights into the regulation of mouse placental development have opened up new avenues for research that will promote the study of human pregnancy conditions, notably those based on defects in placentation that underlie the most common pregnancy pathologies such as IUGR and pre-eclampsia.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fendo.2018.00570/fullplacentatrophoblastmouse modelsIUGRfetal growth restrictionDMDD
spellingShingle Laura Woods
Laura Woods
Vicente Perez-Garcia
Vicente Perez-Garcia
Myriam Hemberger
Myriam Hemberger
Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse Models
Frontiers in Endocrinology
placenta
trophoblast
mouse models
IUGR
fetal growth restriction
DMDD
title Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse Models
title_full Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse Models
title_fullStr Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse Models
title_full_unstemmed Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse Models
title_short Regulation of Placental Development and Its Impact on Fetal Growth—New Insights From Mouse Models
title_sort regulation of placental development and its impact on fetal growth new insights from mouse models
topic placenta
trophoblast
mouse models
IUGR
fetal growth restriction
DMDD
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fendo.2018.00570/full
work_keys_str_mv AT laurawoods regulationofplacentaldevelopmentanditsimpactonfetalgrowthnewinsightsfrommousemodels
AT laurawoods regulationofplacentaldevelopmentanditsimpactonfetalgrowthnewinsightsfrommousemodels
AT vicenteperezgarcia regulationofplacentaldevelopmentanditsimpactonfetalgrowthnewinsightsfrommousemodels
AT vicenteperezgarcia regulationofplacentaldevelopmentanditsimpactonfetalgrowthnewinsightsfrommousemodels
AT myriamhemberger regulationofplacentaldevelopmentanditsimpactonfetalgrowthnewinsightsfrommousemodels
AT myriamhemberger regulationofplacentaldevelopmentanditsimpactonfetalgrowthnewinsightsfrommousemodels