The Prl3d1-Cre mouse line selectively induces the expression of Cre recombinase in parietal trophoblast giant cells.

The placenta plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of normal pregnancy, but how it forms, matures, and performs its function remains poorly understood. Here, we describe a novel mouse line (Prl3d1-iCre) that expresses iCre recombinase under the control of the endogenous prl3d1 promoter. Prl3d1 has been proposed as a marker for distinguishing trophoblast giant cells (TGCs) from other trophoblast cells in the placenta. The in vivo efficiency and specificity of the Cre line were analyzed by interbreeding Prl3d1-iCre mice with B6-G/R reporter mice. Through anatomical studies of the placenta and other tissues of Prl3d1-iCre/+; B6-G/R mouse mice, we found that the tdTomato signal was expressed in parietal trophoblast giant cells (P-TGCs). Thus, we report a mouse line with ectopic Cre expression in P-TGCs, which provides a valuable tool for studying human pathological pregnancies caused by implantation failure or abnormal trophoblast secretion due to aberrant gene regulation.

Effect of bromodomain PHD-finger transcription factor (BPTF) on trophoblast epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

The trophoblast epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a procedure related to embryo implantation, spiral artery establishment and fetal-maternal communication, which is a key event for successful pregnancy. Inadequate EMT is one of the pathological mechanisms of recurrent miscarriage (RM). Whole-exome sequencing revealed that the mutation of bromodomain PHD-finger transcription factor (BPTF) was strongly associated with RM. In the present study, the effects of BPTF on EMT and the underlying mechanism were investigated. We found that the expression of BPTF in the villi of RM patients was significantly downregulated. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that BPTF participated in cell adhesion. The knockdown of BPTF prevented EMT and attenuated trophoblast invasion in vitro. BPTF activated Slug transcription by binding directly to the promoter region of the Slug gene. Interestingly, the protein levels of both Slug and BPTF were decreased in the villous cytotrophoblasts (VCTs) of RM villi. In conclusion, BPTF participates in the regulation of trophoblast EMT by activating Slug expression, suggesting that BPTF defects are an important factor in RM pathogenesis.

The chromatin remodeling protein BPTF mediates cell cycle, proliferation and apoptosis in porcine ovarian granulosa cells.

Bromodomain PHD finger transcription factor (BPTF), a core subunit of nucleosome-remodeling factor (NURF) complex, plays an important role in chromatin remodeling. However, few information of BPTF is available in pig, especially in mammalian follicular granulosa cells (GCs). The present study firstly confirmed that BPTF in porcine was relative close to human and mouse. The expression of BPTF could be detected in ovary, testes, lung, kidney, large intestine, and small intestine. And a relative high expression of BPTF was observed in ovarian follicles and GCs. When BPTF was knocked down (BPTF-siRNA), the viability of GCs was affected. And the expression level of CDK1, cyclin B1, CDK4 and CDK2 was higher than the control, which might indicate that the cell cycle of GCs was inhibited from S to G2/M phase. Although the apoptosis level was induced in the BPTF-siRNA GCs, the reduced level of H3K4 methylation was detected with the down regulation of SMYD3, EHMT2 and DPY30. Thereby, results in the present might provide the primary knowledge of BPTF in GCs and the follicular development in pig.