Autophagy in Normal and Abnormal Early Human Pregnancies
Laura Avagliano1, Laura Terraneo2, Eleonora Virgili2
1Department of Health Sciences, San Paolo Hospital Medical School, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy laura.avagliano@unimi.it.
Reproductive Sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
|December 30, 2014
Summary
Autophagy, a cellular recycling process, is vital in early human pregnancy. Miscarriage shows increased autophagy in the placenta, suggesting a protective cellular response to stress.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive biology
- Cellular biology
- Pathology
Background:
- Autophagy is a fundamental cellular process for degrading and recycling cellular components, crucial for cell survival under stress conditions like starvation and hypoxia.
- Understanding autophagy's role in the fetal-maternal interface is essential for comprehending early human gestation and pregnancy complications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the presence and role of autophagy in the fetal-maternal interface during the first trimester of human gestation.
- To determine if autophagic activity is altered in cases of early spontaneous miscarriage compared to normal early pregnancy.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of villous and decidual samples from first-trimester normal gestations and spontaneous miscarriages.
- Utilized transmission electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting to detect autophagy markers.
- Quantified autophagic vacuole concentration within syncytiotrophoblast cells.
Main Results:
- Autophagy markers were identified in key placental cells, including cytotrophoblast, syncytiotrophoblast, extravillous trophoblast, and decidual stromal cells.
- Autophagy is a normal physiological process in early human gestation.
- Spontaneous miscarriages exhibited increased autophagy expression in villous specimens, characterized by a higher concentration of autophagic vacuoles in the syncytiotrophoblast.
Conclusions:
- Autophagy is physiologically active and present in the fetal-maternal interface during early normal human pregnancy.
- Elevated autophagy in spontaneous miscarriage suggests a cellular attempt to cope with adverse microenvironmental conditions, potentially acting as a cytoprotective mechanism.
Related Concept Videos
01:36Delivery Pathways to the Lysosome
10.6K
Eukaryotic cells use different mechanisms to eliminate toxic waste obsolete and worn-out substances. Lysosomes play a pivotal role in this, and hence, these substances are carried to the lysosome from other parts of the cell and extracellular space through different pathways. The most elaborately studied pathways to the lysosome are the endocytic pathways.
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
Endocytosis
In endocytosis, the cell membrane takes up macromolecules and particles from the surrounding medium. Clathrin-mediated...
10.6K
01:27Autophagy
6.5K
Autophagy is a self-digesting process by which a cell protects itself from threats both within and outside the cell, ranging from abnormal proteins to invading bacteria. In this process, obsolete components of the cell and invading microbes are degraded by hydrolytic enzymes active in an acidic environment of the lysosomal lumen.
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
An autophagic pathway consists of a series of signaling events activated in response to diverse stress and physiological conditions such as food deprivation,...
6.5K
01:18Autophagic Cell Death
5.1K
Christian de Duve discovered “autophagy,” a process in which cellular components are engulfed by membrane-bound organelles called autophagosomes. The autophagosomes then fuse with lysosomes to digest the enclosed contents. Autophagy is generally activated in cells to prevent cell death. However, cell death is triggered when the damage is beyond repair.
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...
Autophagy and Apoptosis
Autophagy can activate apoptosis. In normal conditions, the autophagy activating protein Beclin-1 and...
5.1K
01:22Cellular Injury V: Apoptosis and Autophagy
7
Cells respond to damage and stress through highly coordinated processes that decide whether they survive or undergo controlled self-destruction. Two major pathways involved in this regulation are apoptosis, a type of programmed cell death, and autophagy, a survival mechanism that helps cells adapt to adverse conditions.ApoptosisApoptosis removes aged or injured cells to maintain tissue balance. During this process, the cell shrinks, chromatin condenses and fragments, and membrane-bound...
7
01:17Phagocytosis of Apoptotic Cells
5.7K
Cells undergoing apoptosis form apoptotic bodies that must be removed immediately to prevent inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and necrosis. Phagocytosis is carried out by professional phagocytes such as macrophages or immature dendritic cells. Non-professional phagocytes such as epithelial cells and fibroblasts also take part in this process; however, they are not as effective as professional phagocytes.
Normal cells contain receptors that prevent them from being recognized...
Normal cells contain receptors that prevent them from being recognized...
5.7K
01:28The Early Endosome: Endocytosis of Transferrin
5.3K
Essential proteins such as insulin or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and micronutrients such as iron enter a eukaryotic cell through receptor-mediated endocytosis. Subsequently, the early endosomes fuse with the vesicles containing such receptor-ligand complexes and play a vital role in sorting the incoming ligands and receptors. While the ligands are either degraded inside the vesicle or released into the cytosol, their receptors are returned to the plasma membrane for further rounds of...
5.3K