Mice Placental ECM Components May Provide A Three-Dimensional Placental Microenvironment

Author(s)

Barreto, Rodrigo da Silva Nunes ; Carreira, Ana Claudia Oliveira ; da Silva, Monica Duarte ; Fernandes, Leticia Alves ; Ribeiro, Rafaela Rodrigues ; Almeida, Gustavo Henrique Dona Rodrigues ; Pantoja, Bruna Tassia dos Santos ; Nishiyama Jr, Milton Yutaka ; Miglino, Maria Angelica

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: BIOENGINEERING-BASEL; v. 10, n. 1, p. 11-pg., 2023-01-01.

Abstract

Bioethical limitations impair deeper studies in human placental physiology, then most studies use human term placentas or murine models. To overcome these challenges, new models have been proposed to mimetize the placental three-dimensional microenvironment. The placental extracellular matrix plays an essential role in several processes, being a part of the establishment of materno-fetal interaction. Regarding these aspects, this study aimed to investigate term mice placental ECM components, highlighting its collagenous and non-collagenous content, and proposing a potential three-dimensional model to mimetize the placental microenvironment. For that, 18.5-day-old mice placenta, both control and decellularized (n = 3 per group) were analyzed on Orbitrap Fusion Lumos spectrometer (ThermoScientific) and LFQ intensity generated on MaxQuant software. Proteomic analysis identified 2317 proteins. Using ECM and cell junction-related ontologies, 118 (5.1%) proteins were filtered. Control and decellularized conditions had no significant differential expression on 76 (64.4%) ECM and cell junction-related proteins. Enriched ontologies in the cellular component domain were related to cell junction, collagen and lipoprotein particles, biological process domain, cell adhesion, vasculature, proteolysis, ECM organization, and molecular function. Enriched pathways were clustered in cell adhesion and invasion, and labyrinthine vasculature regulation. These preserved ECM proteins are responsible for tissue stiffness and could support cell anchoring, modeling a three-dimensional structure that may allow placental microenvironment reconstruction. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/14535-9 - Structural, molecular and proteic remodelation of placental extracellular matrix in bovine cloned pregnancies
• Grantee: Rodrigo da Silva Nunes Barreto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral