title: In vitro simulation of placental transport: part I. Biological model of the placental barrier.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The placental barrier (PB) is the thin biological membrane made of endothelial cells (EC), trophoblast cells (TC) and basal membrane that separates between maternal and fetal blood circulations within the placenta and facilitates feto-maternal transport characteristics, which are not completely understood.
  
  
  METHODS
  An in vitro biological model of the PB model was co-cultured of human TC (HTR8) and human umbilical vein EC (HUVEC) on both sides of a denuded amniotic membrane (AM) using custom designed wells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Confocal and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging confirmed the morphology expressions of human EC and TC. Further support on the integrity of the new PB model was obtained from the existence of tight junctions and permeability experiments with fluorescence markers of small and large molecules. The monolayer of EC demonstrated the limiting layer for the transport resistance across this complex barrier.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This new in vitro viable model mimics the architecture of the human PB and can be used in in vitro simulations of transplacental transport studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Levkovitz
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zaretsky
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Jaffa
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Elad
mesh_terms: D000650:Amnion / Q000378:metabolism; D001692:Biological Transport; D002460:Cell Line; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D019108:Tight Junctions / Q000378:metabolism; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000166:cytology