Oxidized low-density lipoproteins inhibit trophoblastic cell invasion

Human implantation involves a major invasion of the uterine wall and remodeling of the uterine arteries by trophoblastic cells. Abnormalities in these early steps of placental development lead to poor placentation, fetal growth defects and are frequently associated with pre-eclampsia, a serious disease specific to human pregnancy. Lipid metabolism is altered during human pregnancy, with low-density lipoproteins (LDL) becoming more susceptible to oxidation. The aim of this study was to localize oxidized LDL (oxLDL) at the implantation site and to investigate the role of oxLDL in human trophoblast invasion in vitro. We showed by immunohistochemistry that oxLDL was present in cytotrophoblasts of villous and extravillous origin in sections of first trimester human placenta. We purified primary invasive extravillous cytotrophoblasts isolated from the chorionic villi of human first trimester placenta and cultured them on Matrigel-coated transwells. We demonstrated using this invasion assay that oxLDL, but not native LDL, inhibited cell invasion in a concentration-dependent manner. These results suggest that human trophoblast invasion may be modulated by oxLDL in vivo and provide new insights into the pathophysiology of pre-eclampsia associated with oxidative stress and defective trophoblast invasion.