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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

The 4-vessel Sampling Approach to Integrative Studies of Human Placental Physiology In Vivo
Published on: August 2, 2017
PPARs and the placenta
T Fournier1, V Tsatsaris, K Handschuh
1INSERM, U767, 4 avenue de l'Observatoire, 75006 Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques, 4 avenue de l'Observatoire, 75006 Paris, France.
Abstract:
The discovery of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) in 1990s provided new insights in understanding the mechanisms involved in the control of energy homeostasis and in cell differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis and the inflammatory process. The PPARs became thus an exciting therapeutic target for diabetes, metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Unexpectedly, genetic studies performed in mice established that PPARgamma are essential for placental development. After a brief description of structural and functional features of PPARs, we will summarize in this review the most recent results concerning expression and the role of PPARs in placenta and of PPARgamma in human trophoblastic cells in particular.
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