Primary Trophoblast Cultures: Characterization of HLA Profiles and Immune Cell Interactions

Trophoblasts are essential in fetal-maternal interaction during pregnancy. The goal was to study HLA profiles of primary trophoblasts derived from placentas, and to investigate their usefulness in studying interaction with immune cells.

After enzymatic digestion of first-trimester placental tissue from seven donors (6-9 weeks gestation) and trophoblast enrichment we cultured cytotrophoblasts (CTB) in stem cell medium. CTB were differentiated into EVT in a Matrigel-containing medium. A subset of CTB/EVT was profiled for microRNA levels. Expression of classical HLA molecules and of HLA-G was studied by flow cytometry, qPCR, and ELISA. Secondary trophoblast cell lines JAR and JEG-3 were studied as controls. Lymphocytes were investigated during co-culturing with EVT.

The trophoblasts could be easily maintained for several passages, upregulated classical trophoblast markers (GATA3, TFAP2C, chromosome-19 microRNAs), and upon differentiation to EVT they were selective in expressing HLA-C. EVT showed increasing expression of total HLA-G, an increasing proportion of HLA-G1 over G2- and G3 isoforms, and elevated excretion of soluble HLA-G. These features were distinct from those of the secondary trophoblast cell lines. TNF-α and IL-8 represented the most abundantly secreted cytokines by CTB, but their levels were minimal in EVT cultures. As proof of principle, we showed that EVT affect lymphocytes in three-day co-cultures (n=4) by decreasing activation marker HLA-DR.

We verified the possibility culturing trophoblasts from first-term placentas, and their capability of differentiating to HLA-G expressing EVT. This culture model better represents the in-vivo situation than previously studied secondary trophoblast cell lines and enables mechanistic studies of fetal-maternal interactions.