In Vitro Assays to Evaluate the Migration, Invasion, and Proliferation of Immortalized Human First-trimester Trophoblast Cell Lines

Author(s):  
Edwina P. Kisanga ◽  
Zhonghua Tang ◽  
Seth Guller ◽  
Shannon Whirledge
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yassen Abbas ◽  
Margherita Y Turco ◽  
Graham J Burton ◽  
Ashley Moffett

Abstract BACKGROUND In humans, inadequate trophoblast invasion into the decidua is associated with the ‘great obstetrical syndromes’ which include pre-eclampsia, foetal growth restriction (FGR) and stillbirth. The mechanisms regulating invasion remain poorly understood, although interactions with the uterine environment are clearly of central importance. Extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells invade the uterus and transform the spiral arteries. Progress in understanding how they invade has been limited due to the lack of good in vitro models. Firstly, there are no non-malignant cell lines that have an EVT phenotype. Secondly, the invasion assays used are of limited use for the small numbers of primary EVT available from first-trimester placentas. We discuss recent progress in this field with the generation of new EVT lines and invasion assays using microfluidic technology. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE Our aim is to describe the established models used to study human trophoblast invasion in vivo and in vitro. The difficulties of obtaining primary cells and cell lines that recapitulate the phenotype of EVT are discussed together with the advantages and pitfalls of the different invasion assays. We compare these traditional end point assays to microfluidic assays where the dynamics of migration can be measured. SEARCH METHODS Relevant studies were identified by PubMed search, last updated on February 2020. A search was conducted to determine the number of journal articles published using the cell lines JEG-3, BeWo, JAR, HTR-8/Svneo, Swan-71 and primary human extravillous trophoblast in the last 5 years. OUTCOMES Deep trophoblast invasion into the maternal decidua is a particular feature of human pregnancy. This invasion needs to be finely regulated to allocate resources between mother and baby. A reliable source of EVT is needed to study in vitro how the uterine environment regulates this process. First, we critically discuss the issues with the trophoblast cell lines currently used; for example, most of them lack expression of the defining marker of EVT, HLA-G. Recently, advances in human stem cell and organoid technology have been applied to extraembryonic tissues to develop trophoblast cell lines that can grow in two (2D) and three dimensions (3D) and differentiate to EVT. This means that the ‘trophoblast’ cell lines currently in use should rapidly become obsolete. Second, we critically discuss the problems with assays to study trophoblast invasion. These lack physiological relevance and have simplified migration dynamics. Microfluidic assays are a powerful tool to study cell invasion because they require only a few cells, which are embedded in 3D in an extracellular matrix. Their major advantage is real-time monitoring of cell movement, enabling detailed analysis of the dynamics of trophoblast migration. WIDER IMPLICATIONS Trophoblast invasion in the first trimester of pregnancy remains poorly understood despite the importance of this process in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia, FGR, stillbirth and recurrent miscarriage. The new technologies described here will allow investigation into this critical process.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimi L. Rosenkrantz ◽  
Jessica E. Gaffney ◽  
Victoria HJ. Roberts ◽  
Lucia Carbone ◽  
Shawn L. Chavez

AbstractProper placentation, including trophoblast differentiation and function, is essential for the health and well-being of both the mother and baby throughout pregnancy. Placental abnormalities that occur during the early stages of development are thought to contribute to pre-eclampsia and other placenta-related pregnancy complications. However, relatively little is known about these stages in humans due to obvious ethical and technical limitations. Rhesus macaques are considered an ideal surrogate for studying human placentation, but the unclear translatability of known human placental markers and lack of accessible rhesus trophoblast cell lines can impede the use of this animal model. Here, we performed a cross-species transcriptomic comparison of human and rhesus placenta and determined that while the majority of known placental markers were similarly expressed, 952 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the two species. Pathway enrichment analysis of the 447 human-upregulated DEGs, including ADAM12, ERVW-1, KISS1, LGALS13, PAPPA2, PGF, and SIGLEC6, revealed over-representation of functional terms associated with pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy disorders. Additionally, to enable in vitro functional studies of early placentation, we generated and thoroughly characterized two highly-pure first-trimester telomerase (TERT) immortalized rhesus trophoblast cell lines (iRP-D26 and iRP-D28A) that retained crucial features of isolated primary trophoblasts. Overall, our findings help elucidate the molecular translatability between human and rhesus placenta and reveal notable expression differences in human placental markers and genes associated with pregnancy complications that should be considered when using the rhesus animal model to study normal and pathological human placentation.


BMC Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimi L. Rosenkrantz ◽  
Jessica E. Gaffney ◽  
Victoria H. J. Roberts ◽  
Lucia Carbone ◽  
Shawn L. Chavez

Abstract Background Proper placentation, including trophoblast differentiation and function, is essential for the health and well-being of both the mother and baby throughout pregnancy. Placental abnormalities that occur during the early stages of development are thought to contribute to preeclampsia and other placenta-related pregnancy complications. However, relatively little is known about these stages in humans due to obvious ethical and technical limitations. Rhesus macaques are considered an ideal surrogate for studying human placentation, but the unclear translatability of known human placental markers and lack of accessible rhesus trophoblast cell lines can impede the use of this animal model. Results Here, we performed a cross-species transcriptomic comparison of human and rhesus placenta and determined that while the majority of human placental marker genes (HPGs) were similarly expressed, 952 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the two species. Functional enrichment analysis of the 447 human-upregulated DEGs, including ADAM12, ERVW-1, KISS1, LGALS13, PAPPA2, PGF, and SIGLEC6, revealed over-representation of genes implicated in preeclampsia and other pregnancy disorders. Additionally, to enable in vitro functional studies of early placentation, we generated and thoroughly characterized two highly pure first trimester telomerase (TERT) immortalized rhesus trophoblast cell lines (iRP-D26 and iRP-D28A) that retained crucial features of isolated primary trophoblasts. Conclusions Overall, our findings help elucidate the molecular translatability between human and rhesus placenta and reveal notable expression differences in several HPGs and genes implicated in pregnancy complications that should be considered when using the rhesus animal model to study normal and pathological human placentation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 7226
Author(s):  
Violeta Stojanovska ◽  
Aneri Shah ◽  
Katja Woidacki ◽  
Florence Fischer ◽  
Mario Bauer ◽  
...  

Cold shock Y-box binding protein-1 (YB-1) coordinates several molecular processes between the nucleus and the cytoplasm and plays a crucial role in cell function. Moreover, it is involved in cancer progression, invasion, and metastasis. As trophoblast cells share similar characteristics with cancer cells, we hypothesized that YB-1 might also be necessary for trophoblast functionality. In samples of patients with intrauterine growth restriction, YB-1 mRNA levels were decreased, while they were increased in preeclampsia and unchanged in spontaneous abortions when compared to normal pregnant controls. Studies with overexpression and downregulation of YB-1 were performed to assess the key trophoblast processes in two trophoblast cell lines HTR8/SVneo and JEG3. Overexpression of YB-1 or exposure of trophoblast cells to recombinant YB-1 caused enhanced proliferation, while knockdown of YB-1 lead to proliferative disadvantage in JEG3 or HTR8/SVneo cells. The invasion and migration properties were affected at different degrees among the trophoblast cell lines. Trophoblast expression of genes mediating migration, invasion, apoptosis, and inflammation was altered upon YB-1 downregulation. Moreover, IL-6 secretion was excessively increased in HTR8/SVneo. Ultimately, YB-1 directly binds to NF-κB enhancer mark in HTR8/SVneo cells. Our data show that YB-1 protein is important for trophoblast cell functioning and, when downregulated, leads to trophoblast disadvantage that at least in part is mediated by NF-κB.


1997 ◽  
Vol 272 (13) ◽  
pp. 8836
Author(s):  
Etienne Decroly ◽  
Sandrine Wouters ◽  
Carlo Di Bello ◽  
Claude Lazure ◽  
Jean-Marie Ruysschaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi222-vi222
Author(s):  
Breanna Mann ◽  
Noah Bell ◽  
Denise Dunn ◽  
Scott Floyd ◽  
Shawn Hingtgen ◽  
...  

Abstract Brain cancers remain one of the greatest medical challenges. The lack of experimentally tractable models that recapitulate brain structure/function represents a major impediment. Platforms that enable functional testing in high-fidelity models are urgently needed to accelerate the identification and translation of therapies to improve outcomes for patients suffering from brain cancer. In vitro assays are often too simple and artificial while in vivo studies can be time-intensive and complicated. Our live, organotypic brain slice platform can be used to seed and grow brain cancer cell lines, allowing us to bridge the existing gap in models. These tumors can rapidly establish within the brain slice microenvironment, and morphologic features of the tumor can be seen within a short period of time. The growth, migration, and treatment dynamics of tumors seen on the slices recapitulate what is observed in vivo yet is missed by in vitro models. Additionally, the brain slice platform allows for the dual seeding of different cell lines to simulate characteristics of heterogeneous tumors. Furthermore, live brain slices with embedded tumor can be generated from tumor-bearing mice. This method allows us to quantify tumor burden more effectively and allows for treatment and retreatment of the slices to understand treatment response and resistance that may occur in vivo. This brain slice platform lays the groundwork for a new clinically relevant preclinical model which provides physiologically relevant answers in a short amount of time leading to an acceleration of therapeutic translation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 727-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesc Cunyat ◽  
Marta Curriu ◽  
Silvia Marfil ◽  
Elisabet García ◽  
Bonaventura Clotet ◽  
...  

HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is a major determinant of viral pathogenicity. The evaluation of the biological properties of patient-derived envelopes by comparing two effector cell lines (293T and HeLa) is reported. A standard cell-to-cell fusion assay was used to evaluate fusogenicity, whereas a coculture with CD4+ cells was used to evaluate absolute cell loss, single cell death, and hemifusion events. Fusion and absolute cell loss assays showed that Env-expressing 293T and HeLa cells had different fusion efficiencies; fusion was magnified in 293T cells despite a significantly lower cell-surface Env expression. Conversely, gp41-mediated single cell death and hemifusion induced in CD4+ cells by 293T-Env-positive cells were significantly lower than that induced by HeLa-Env-positive cells. These data showed that the effector cell line used in the in vitro assays is crucial, and a combination of assays is recommended to evaluate the biological properties of patient-derived envelope glycoproteins: preferentially, 293T-Env-positive cells for the evaluation of fusogenicity and HeLa-Env-positive cells for the evaluation of cell death parameters. The combination of assays described in our work could be a valuable tool for dual screenings of large collections of primary Envs or Env mutants and drugs acting on these Envs.


Cells ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 254
Author(s):  
Denisse A. Gutierrez ◽  
Lisett Contreras ◽  
Paulina J. Villanueva ◽  
Edgar A. Borrego ◽  
Karla Morán-Santibañez ◽  
...  

In this study, we identified a novel pyrazole-based derivative (P3C) that displayed potent cytotoxicity against 27 human cancer cell lines derived from different tissue origins with 50% cytotoxic concentrations (CC50) in the low micromolar and nanomolar range, particularly in two triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines (from 0.25 to 0.49 µM). In vitro assays revealed that P3C induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation leading to mitochondrial depolarization and caspase-3/7 and -8 activation, suggesting the participation of both the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways. P3C caused microtubule disruption, phosphatidylserine externalization, PARP cleavage, DNA fragmentation, and cell cycle arrest on TNBC cells. In addition, P3C triggered dephosphorylation of CREB, p38, ERK, STAT3, and Fyn, and hyperphosphorylation of JNK and NF-kB in TNBC cells, indicating the inactivation of both p38MAPK/STAT3 and ERK1/2/CREB signaling pathways. In support of our in vitro assays, transcriptome analyses of two distinct TNBC cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 cells) treated with P3C revealed 28 genes similarly affected by the treatment implicated in apoptosis, oxidative stress, protein kinase modulation, and microtubule stability.


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