Researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland have created a device that mimics the functioning of placenta in the lab.
The technology allows scientists to study the intricate workings of a pregnant woman’s temporary organ and hopefully improve treatments to manage life-threatening pregnancies.
Called iPlacenta, or a placenta on a chip, the 3D model was grown using stem cells derived from human skin. The researchers began working on it in 2019 in collaboration with Dutch 3D tissue modelling experts MIMETAS. They published their findings in the journal Cell.
While the placenta has many important functions, it remains one of the least studied.
The placenta is a crucial organ that forms in the uterus during pregnancies and acts as a vital connection between the mother and foetus. Serving as a lifeline, it facilitates the transfer of essential nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the developing foetus and efficiently removes waste materials from the foetus back to the mother for disposal. It also safeguards the unborn baby from potential diseases caused by bacteria and viruses.
Dr Colin Murdoch, lead author of the study, hopes this breakthrough technology could spearhead research into relatively lesser researched conditions like pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening pregnancy complication.
“Research in pregnancy is not as far forward as research into other areas of medical science. We still know relatively little about pre-eclampsia despite its potential to affect every pregnancy,” according to his statement.
Also read: Pre-eclampsia: high blood pressure during pregnancy
Dr Murdoch explains that there is excellent safety data for only a tiny fraction of the common drugs used by women during pregnancy.
“iPlacenta can be utilised by the pharmaceutical industry to research the interaction between drugs and the placenta. This allows drug companies to look at the organ in a more physiological format and could have a potentially transformative impact on medical care for pregnant women,” Dr Murdoch adds.
Until now, organs have only been studied in two dimensions. Using the organ-on-a-chip technology, medical researchers can make giant leaps in understanding conditions of the placenta, says Gwanaëlle Rabussier, a scientist at MIMETAS.
She adds that iPlacenta could provide tremendous opportunities for unravelling mysteries associated with how medication can pass through the placental barrier and pathologies such as pre-eclampsia.
“At present, cell lines from cancer are used to examine diseases of the placenta but this is not entirely appropriate. Obtaining [and studying] placentas at the early stage is incredibly hard, and that is where iPlacenta can address that need,” concludes Dr Murdoch.
