Lipid signatures reflect the function of the murine primary placentation†

Biol Reprod. 2022 Mar 19;106(3):583-596. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioab219.

Abstract

The placenta regulates maternal-fetal communication, and its defect leads to significant pregnancy complications. The maternal and embryonic circulations are primitively connected in early placentation, but the function of the placenta during this developmentally essential period is relatively unknown. We thus performed a comparative proteomic analysis of the placenta before and after primary placentation and found that the metabolism and transport of lipids were characteristically activated in this period. The placental fatty acid (FA) carriers in specific placental compartments were upregulated according to gestational age, and metabolomic analysis also showed that the placental transport of FAs increased in a time-dependent manner. Further analysis of two mutant mice models with embryonic lethality revealed that lipid-related signatures could reflect the functional state of the placenta. Our findings highlight the importance of the nutrient transport function of the primary placenta in the early gestational period and the role of lipids in embryonic development.

Summary sentence: The placenta is activated characteristically in terms of lipid transport during primary placentation, and the lipid-related signatures closely reflect the functional state of the placenta.

Keywords: embryonic lethality; fatty acids; metabolomics; primary placenta; proteomics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Fatty Acids / metabolism
  • Female
  • Gestational Age
  • Mice
  • Placenta* / metabolism
  • Placentation*
  • Pregnancy
  • Proteomics

Substances

  • Fatty Acids