Impaired autophagy by soluble endoglin, under physiological hypoxia in early pregnant period, is involved in poor placentation in preeclampsia.

ABSTRACT: In early pregnancy, trophoblasts and the fetus experience hypoxic and low-nutrient conditions; nevertheless, trophoblasts invade the uterine myometrium up to one third of its depth and migrate along the lumina of spiral arterioles, replacing the maternal endothelial lining. Here, we showed that autophagy, an intracellular bulk degradation system, occurred in extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells under hypoxia in vitro and in vivo. An enhancement of autophagy was observed in EVTs in early placental tissues, which suffer from physiological hypoxia. The invasion and vascular remodeling under hypoxia were significantly reduced in autophagy-deficient EVT cells compared with wild-type EVT cells. Interestingly, soluble endoglin (sENG), which increased in sera in preeclamptic cases, suppressed EVT

SUBMITTER: Nakashima A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3590252 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature