Placenta model grown from stem cells

A miniature 3D model of the human placenta could help improve medical care in pregnancy.

The placenta is one of the least studied organs in the human body, despite the fact that it can cause serious harm to both mother and fetus when it does not function correctly. Conditions such as pre-eclampsia affect as many as one in 25 pregnancies, but despite its prevalence, treatments are limited and poorly understood.

'Research in pregnancy is not as far forward as research into other areas of medical science, said Dr Colin Murdoch, who led the research at the University of Dundee. 'Obtaining placentas at the early stage that we need to study them is incredibly hard, and that is where iPlacenta can address that need.'

The placenta models, called 'iPlacentas', were grown from induced pluripotent stem cells, which are derived from human skin cells. Cells in the iPlacentas arranged themselves into similar structures to those seen in human placentas.

The Dundee team worked alongside researchers at Dutch biotechnology company MIMETAS whose 'organ on a chip' platform, called 'Organoplate', allows 40 mini placentas to be grown on each plate.

In findings published in Cell, the researchers demonstrated that iPlacentas grown in Organoplates showed increased expression of genes related to early placenta structural development. Traditional cell-based placenta models are usually grown in flat, 2D plates that do not fully replicate the complex nature of the real organ.

'Organs are three-dimensional objects, but until now medical research has been conducted in just two dimensions. Working on this project has been exciting as it opens tremendous opportunities for unravelling placental mysteries associated with placental barrier drug transfer and pathologies such as pre-eclampsia.' said co-author Gwenaëlle Rabussier from MIMETAS.

The iPlacentas can be used for experiments without impacting patient health or using animal models. The researchers hope they will also allow researchers and drug companies to study the placenta under more physiological conditions and improve drug safety in pregnancy. Many drugs used by pregnant women have insufficient safety data, and interactions between drugs and the placenta are poorly understood.