Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

The placenta is a pregnancy-specific organ that facilitates the exchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and wastes between the mother and fetus (3). The cells that make up the placenta are called trophoblasts, and all trophoblasts are derived from trophoblast stem (TS) cells (3). Previously TS cells were believed to not be present beyond mid-gestation; however, recent evidence has shown that they may persist into mid-late mouse gestation and seem to increase in response to stress in mouse models of placental insufficiency, however, it is unknown whether they may help the placenta to adapt (4,5). This study will address that gap in knowledge by using a transgenic Eomes mouse, lineage tracing and a surgical model of preeclampsia that results in compromised placental development to investigate the response of persistent TS cells in placental pathology (4). Specifically, this study will characterize across gestation their ability to differentiate once removed from the mouse placenta and determine in response to placental stress whether their recruitment results in the contribution of differentiated trophoblast to the placenta. Further in vitro analysis will correlate epigenetic and differentiation profiles of isolated TS cells to determine whether they are altered in the compromised placentae. Once the response of TS cells in the context of placental pathology has been characterized, future studies will investigate whether these responses are helpful (adaptive) or harmful (pathological) to the placenta.