A novel regulator of human villous trophoblast fusion: the Krüppel-like factor 6

RACCA, ANA C.; RIDANO, MAGALÍ EVELIN; CAMOLOTTO, SOLEDAD; GENTI-RAIMONDI, SUSANA; PANZETTA-DUTARI, GRACIELA

MOLECULAR HUMAN REPRODUCTION.

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2015

1360-9947

ell-cell fusion is an essential event during life. Throughout human pregnancy, the syncytiotrophoblast (STB) layer of the placenta is formed by continuous fusion of the underlying villous cytotrophoblasts, thus maintaining placental functionality. Defects in this process are associated with pathologies like pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. Krüppel-like factor 6 (KLF6) is a transcription factor highly expressed in human and murine placenta. However, KLF6 functions in trophoblast cells remain largely unexplored. The aim of this work was to address the role of KLF6 during STB formation. KLF6 knockdown through small interfering RNA experiments hindered cell-cell fusion revealed by immunofluorescence microscopy in human primary villous cytotrophoblast as well as in the human placental-derived BeWo cell line. Furthermore, KLF6 silencing led to a decrease in the expression of the fusogenic protein Syncytin-1 and the cell cycle regulator p21 CIP1/WAF1: measured by quantitati