title: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition during extravillous trophoblast differentiation.
abstract: A successful pregnancy depends on the intricate and timely interactions of maternal and fetal cells. Placental extravillous cytotrophoblast invasion involves a cellular transition from an epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype. Villous cytotrophoblasts undergo a partial epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) when differentiating into extravillous cytotrophoblasts and gain the capacity to migrate and invade. This review summarizes our current knowledge regarding known regulators of EMT in the human placenta, including the inducers of EMT, upstream transcription factors that control EMT and the downstream effectors, cell adhesion molecules and their differential expression and functions in pregnancy pathologies, preeclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (FGR). The review also describes the research strategies that were used for the identification of the functional role of EMT targets in vitro. A better understanding of molecular pathways driven by placental EMT and further elucidation of signaling pathways underlying the developmental programs may offer novel strategies of targeted therapy for improving feto-placental growth in placental pathologies including PE and FGR.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , The University of Melbourne , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.|b Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Pregnancy Research Centre , The Royal Women's Hospital , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: E Davies
authors.affiliation: c Department of Obstetrics and Fetal-Maternal Medicine , Reproductive Biology Unit, Medical University of Vienna , Vienna , Austria.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pollheimer
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , The University of Melbourne , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.|b Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Pregnancy Research Centre , The Royal Women's Hospital , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Hannah E J
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.affiliation: b Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Pregnancy Research Centre , The Royal Women's Hospital , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Maria I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Kokkinos
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , The University of Melbourne , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.|b Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Pregnancy Research Centre , The Royal Women's Hospital , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Bill
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kalionis
authors.affiliation: c Department of Obstetrics and Fetal-Maternal Medicine , Reproductive Biology Unit, Medical University of Vienna , Vienna , Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Knöfler
authors.affiliation: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , The University of Melbourne , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.|b Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine Pregnancy Research Centre , The Royal Women's Hospital , Parkville , Victoria , Australia.|d Department of Medicine , School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University , Clayton , Victoria , Australia.
authors.forename: Padma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Murthi
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010929:Placentation / Q000502:physiology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D014327:Trophoblasts / Q000166:cytology*
keywords: differentiation; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; invasion; placenta; trophoblast