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Placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP): Is it exclusively placental?
Awanit Kumar1, Sourabh Sharma1, Maged M Costantine2
1Division of Basic Science and Translational Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, 77555, USA.
Placenta
|January 10, 2025
Summary
Placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) is found in both the placenta and fetal membranes, not just the placenta. PLAP-positive extracellular vesicles (EVs) offer insights into fetal tissue conditions during pregnancy.
Area of Science:
- Perinatal Medicine
- Biomarker Discovery
- Extracellular Vesicles
Background:
- Adverse pregnancy outcomes pose clinical challenges due to inaccurate early prediction biomarkers.
- Placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) and its extracellular vesicles (EVs) are potential biomarkers for placental health and pre-eclampsia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the expression of PLAP beyond the placenta.
- To determine if PLAP-positive EVs are exclusively placental or originate from other fetal tissues.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated PLAP expression in placental, fetal membrane, and maternal uterine cells and their derived EVs.
- Utilized bioanalytical techniques to detect PLAP in cells and EVs.
- Characterized EVs for size, quantity, PLAP cargo, and canonical markers.
Main Results:
- PLAP was expressed in chorion trophoblast cells (CTCs) of fetal membranes and placental trophoblasts.
- PLAP was absent in the amnion layer and maternal uterine cells.
- EVs derived from chorion and placental trophoblasts contained PLAP.
Conclusions:
- PLAP is expressed in trophoblast lineage cells of both fetal membranes and the placenta, not exclusively placental.
- PLAP-positive EVs are not exclusively placental but reflect real-time fetal-specific tissue conditions.
