Regulation of Human Placental Development by Oxygen Tension
Olga Genbacev,
Yan Zhou,
John W. Ludlow,
Susan J. Fisher
*
Cytotrophoblasts, specialized placental cells, proliferate early in
pregnancy and then differentiate into tumor-like cells that establish
blood flow to the placenta by invading the uterus and its vasculature.
In this study, cytotrophoblasts cultured under hypoxic conditions (2 percent oxygen), mimicking the environment near the uterine surface
before 10 weeks of gestation, continued proliferating and
differentiated poorly. When cultured in 20 percent oxygen, mimicking
the environment near uterine arterioles, the cells stopped
proliferating and differentiated normally. Thus, oxygen tension
determines whether cytotrophoblasts proliferate or invade, thereby
regulating placental growth and cellular architecture.
O. Genbacev and Y. Zhou, Department of Stomatology, University of
California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0512, USA.
J. W. Ludlow, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics,
University of Rochester, Cancer Center, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
S. J. Fisher, Departments of Stomatology; Obstetrics, Gynecology
and Reproductive Sciences; Pharmaceutical Chemistry; and Anatomy,
University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0512, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed at HSW 604, Box 0512, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0512, USA. E-mail:
sfisher{at}cgl.ucsf.edu
