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Updated: May 5, 2026

Ex vivo Culture of Human Placental Explants for the Study of Viral Transmission Across the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Published on: December 30, 2025
Cytomegalovirus infection and antibody protection of the developing placenta
Lenore Pereira1, Matthew Petitt, Takako Tabata
1Department of Cell and Tissue Biology, School of Dentistry, University of California, San Francisco.
Abstract:
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is transmitted from the infected mother to the placenta and fetus. Virus replicates in the decidua, invasive cytotrophoblasts that breach the uterine vasculature and villous cytotrophoblasts underlying syncytiotrophoblasts, then reaches blood vessels in the villus core. Virus replication, fibrosis, and edema result in a hypoxic intrauterine environment and release of cytokines that stimulates compensatory development of the placenta. We employed villous explant cultures to study viral effects on differentiation and test novel approaches to rescue the placenta from infection.
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