Placental Cell Conditioned Media Modifies Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transcriptome In Vitro

Hematopoietic stem cells are cells that differentiate into all blood cell types. Although the placenta secretes hormones, proteins and other factors important for maternal and fetal health, cross-talk between placental cells and hematopoietic stem cells is poorly understood. Moreover, toxicant impacts on placental-hematopoietic stem cell communication is understudied. The goals of this study were to determine if factors secreted from placental cells alter transcriptomic responses in hematopoietic stem cells and if monoethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP), the bioactive metabolite of the pollutant diethylhexyl phthalate, modifies these effects.

We used K-562 and BeWo cells as in vitro models of hematopoietic stem cells and placental syncytiotrophoblasts, respectively. We treated K-562 cells with medium conditioned by incubation with BeWo cells, medium conditioned with BeWo cells treated with 10 μM MEHP for 24 hours, or controls treated with unconditioned medium. We extracted K-562 cell RNA, performed RNA sequencing, then conducted differential gene expression and pathway analysis by treatment group.

Relative to controls, K-562 cells treated with BeWo cell conditioned medium differentially expressed 173 genes (FDR<0.05 and fold-change>2.0), including 2.4 fold upregulatation of TPM4 and 3.3 fold upregulatation of S1PR3. Upregulated genes were enriched for pathways including stem cell maintenance, cell proliferation and immune processes. Downregulated genes were enriched for terms involved in protein translation and transcriptional regulation. MEHP treatment differentially expressed eight genes (FDR<0.05), including genes involved in lipid metabolism (PLIN2, fold-change: 1.4; CPT1A, fold-change: 1.4).

K-562 cells, a model of hematopoietic stem cells, are responsive to media conditioned by placental cells, potentially impacting pathways like stem cell maintenance and proliferation.