Scientists have grown miniature human placentas in the laboratory

British scientists have grown miniature placentas in the lab that are so much like the real thing that they can fool pregnancy tests. Organoids have been created in research into the causes of miscarriage, fetal death and other pregnancy disorders.

Researchers at Cambridge University have created miniature placentas outside the uterus, the so-called “placenta”. Organoids. Organoids are small versions of roorganoidow cultured from comostem recs thatore retain their key anatomical features. Such trojDimensional models are invaluable aids in research. Scientists obtain living organoids to test roof solution concepts.

Models of human placentas grown in Cambridge will allow scientists to learn more about miscarriages and other pregnancy disorders. Researchers have limited ability to see what happens in the womb during early pregnancy. There is very little information about the processoin occurring there. Research on organoids gives scientists a chance to understand them and perhaps learn the causes of many problemsow and the resulting complications of pregnancy.

Description of growing organoidow has been published in the journal „Nature”.

The tiny organoids mimic the placenta in the early stages of the first trimester and will be used to study the development of pregnancy. The miniature placentas grown in Cambridge are so similar to the real thing that they can fool pregnancy tests.

As in real placentas, organoids have zroThe differentiated types of comoplacental records and organ structureow. They even secrete hormones, whichore are unique to the placenta and are what can fool pregnancy tests. – If we place a pregnancy test on an organoid substrateow, it will give a positive result,” said Ashley Moffett, who works at the University of Cambridge.

Organoids have been grown from comosharksowki – of the external fetal membrane shielding the body of the embryo. Comorks have organized themselves into multicomorkowe capable of secreting proteins and hormonesow, whichore affect maternal metabolism during pregnancy. The organoids range in size from a tenth of a millimeter to poł millimeter. They can be frozen and stored, then thawed as needed.

– We can now begin experiments on placental development in the uterine environment,” said Moffett.

Thanks to research on organoids, scientists can develop a more accurate picture of the formation of placental development. They can roalso to better understand disorders thatore occur in the first trimester of pregnancy and affect the development of theoj of the fetus and can lead to miscarriages. They may be able to discover how toob affect the health of the placenta.

– The test comoplacental rec has been going on for decades, but never before have scientists been able to grow organoidow, whichore so closely resemble placentas,” said Margherita Turco, a study author from the University of Cambridge. – The uniqueness of this system is that we have never had any laboratory model to study the formation of the human placenta – she added.

In a healthy pregnancy, the placenta grows and adheres to the uterine wall. With its help, oxygen and nutrients are delivered to the baby, while waste is removed – Carbon dioxide and unnecessary products of metabolism. The placenta secretes roalso hormones.

Pregnancy can fail for many reasonsow if only because the placenta will not attach as it should to the uterine wall. Understanding what goes wrong in such cases was difficult to study because the researchers did not have placentas, on which theorych could learn.

The human placenta very rodiffers from the mouse placenta, the most commonly used by scientistsoIn an animal model. In ogole does not resemble the placentas of other animals, even closely related primates.

Scientists want to use organoids not only to study someoSome of the most common disorders of pregnancy. Miniature placentas can help roalso better understand howob someore infections affect unborn babies. Such as the Zika virus, whichory is linked to abnormal development of mozgu – it is unclear how theob virus crosses the placenta, when the very similar dengue virus cannot do so.

Scientists will also study the hormones and proteins secreted by organoids during their growth, in order to identify substances thatore could provide an early warning that the placenta was not functioning properly.

– The placenta is absolutely essential to support the baby as it grows in the womb. When it doesn’t work properly, it can cause serious problems ranging from pre-eclampsia to miscarriage, with immediate and lifelong consequences zarofor both mother and baby – noted Turco.

The tiny placentas may be roalso used to test the safety of new drugsow and shed light on how theob Chromosomal abnormalities can disrupt the normal development ofoj child.

Sourceobackground: Live Science, The Guardian, fot. The Center for Trophoblast Research