Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP/<i>ABCG2</i>) Inhibits Extra Villous Trophoblast Migration: The Impact of Bacterial and Viral Infection

oleh: Phetcharawan Lye, Enrrico Bloise, Lubna Nadeem, Chun Peng, William Gibb, Tania M. Ortiga-Carvalho, Stephen J. Lye, Stephen G. Matthews

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2019-09-01

Deskripsi

Extravillous trophoblasts (EVT) migration into the decidua is critical for establishing placental perfusion and when dysregulated, may lead to pre-eclampsia (PE) and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). The breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP; encoded by <i>ABCG2</i>) regulates the fusion of cytotrophoblasts into syncytiotrophoblasts and protects the fetus from maternally derived xenobiotics. Information about BCRP function in EVTs is limited, however placental exposure to bacterial/viral infection leads to BCRP downregulation in syncitiotrophoblasts. We hypothesized that BCRP is involved in the regulation of EVT function and is modulated by infection/inflammation. We report that besides syncitiotrophoblasts and cytotrophoblasts, BCRP is also expressed in EVTs. BCRP inhibits EVT cell migration in HTR8/SVneo (human EVT-like) cells and in human EVT explant cultures, while not affecting cell proliferation. We have also shown that bacterial&#8212;lipopolysaccharide (LPS)&#8212;and viral antigens&#8212;single stranded RNA (ssRNA)&#8212;have a profound effect in downregulating <i>ABCG2</i> and BCRP levels, whilst simultaneously increasing the migration potential of EVT-like cells. Our study reports a novel function of BCRP in early placentation and suggests that exposure of EVTs to maternal infection/inflammation could disrupt their migration potential via the downregulation of BCRP. This could negatively influence placental development/function, contribute to existing obstetric pathologies, and negatively impact pregnancy outcomes and maternal/neonatal health.