Grant: CIHR Fellowship

The placenta (afterbirth) is important for a healthy pregnancy. When the placenta does not work properly (called placental insufficiency), the developing fetus (unborn baby) may not grow properly and can be born small and sick. Right now, we do not know what exactly causes placental insufficiency. In order to help these babies, it is very important to learn what causes placental insufficiency so new treatments can be developed. In this project, I will study a special type of cell in the placenta called "trophoblast stem cells" (TS cells). Like other stem cells found in the body, TS cells respond to damage and may act to help repair the placenta. We do not know the role of TS cells in placental insufficiency. In my project, I will use a mouse model of placental insufficiency to study these cells. In part one of my project, I will use special mice that have TS cells tagged with coloured markers. Mice will either undergo surgery to cause placental insufficiency (we place a small tie around the blood vessels feeding the uterus), surgery with no tie or no surgery. Afterwards, I will collect the placentas and look for coloured cells in the placenta under the microscope. I will be able to count the number of TS cells as well as look at their location in the placenta and compare them between the groups. The results will tell us if TS cells respond to placental insufficiency. Next, I will use a special virus to kill all the TS cells and look to see if removing TS cells causes the pregnancies to be healthy or unhealthy in the same 3 groups. If removal of the TS cells leads to poor health in the fetuses, this would tell us TS cells play an important role in helping the placenta when there is placental insufficiency. My project will confirm the role of TS cells in placenta insufficiency. If TS cells help repair the placenta, we may be able to target them for treatment in human pregnancies in future studies.