Transcriptomic Profiling of Trophoblast Subpopulations in Severe Preeclampsia Reveals Novel Aspects of RNA Dysregulation. Homo sapiens

The maternal signs of preeclampsia, principally the new onset of high blood pressure, are thought to occur secondary to faulty placentation. Previous studies profiled the gene expression patterns of chorionic villi, the maternal-fetal interface or isolated cytotrophoblasts in this pregnancy complication. We theorized that transcriptomic analyses of trophoblast subpopulations in situ would give us new insights into the role of these cells in preeclampsia pathogenesis. Overall design: This was a cross-sectional analysis of placentas collected at birth from women who were diagnosed with severe preeclampsia (n=4). Gestational age-matched controls were placentas from women who had a preterm birth with no signs of infection (n=4). Laser microdissection enabled the isolation of samples that were enriched for syncytiotrophoblasts, invasive cytotrophoblasts or endovascular cytotrophoblasts. A microarray approach was used for global transcriptional profiling.

子痫前期（preeclampsia）的母体体征以新发高血压为核心表现，目前学界普遍认为其发病继发于胎盘形成缺陷。既往相关研究已针对该妊娠并发症中的绒毛膜绒毛（chorionic villi，即母胎界面）或分离的细胞滋养层细胞（cytotrophoblasts）的基因表达谱展开过分析。本研究推测，对原位（in situ）滋养层细胞亚群进行转录组分析，将为阐明这些细胞在子痫前期发病机制中的作用提供全新视角。
总体设计：本研究为横断面分析，研究对象为确诊重度子痫前期（severe preeclampsia）孕妇（n=4）分娩时获取的胎盘组织；孕周匹配的对照组样本则取自无感染征象的早产孕妇（n=4）的胎盘。通过激光显微切割（laser microdissection）技术，我们分离富集得到了合体滋养层细胞（syncytiotrophoblasts）、侵袭性细胞滋养层细胞（invasive cytotrophoblasts）以及血管内细胞滋养层细胞（endovascular cytotrophoblasts）三类样本，随后采用基因芯片（microarray）技术完成了全转录组表达谱分析。