Placental Changes in the serotonin transporter (Slc6a4) knockout mouse suggest a role for serotonin in controlling nutrient acquisition.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The mouse placenta accumulates and possibly produces serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) in parietal trophoblast giant cells (pTGC) located at the interface between the placenta and maternal deciduum. However, the roles of 5-HT in placental function are unclear. This lack of information is unfortunate, given that selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors are commonly used to combat depression in pregnant women. The high affinity 5-HT transporter SLC6A4 (also known as SERT) is the target of such drugs and likely controls much of 5-HT uptake into pTGC and other placental cells. We hypothesized that ablation of the Slc6a4 gene would result in morphological changes correlated with placental gene expression changes, especially for those involved in nutrient acquisition and

SUBMITTER: Mao J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8585720 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature