Blimp1/Prdm1 governs terminal differentiation of endovascular trophoblast giant cells and defines multipotent progenitors in the developing placenta
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↵1 These authors contributed equally to this work.
Abstract
Developmental arrest of Blimp1/Prdm1 mutant embryos at around embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) has been attributed to placental disturbances. Here we investigate Blimp1/Prdm1 requirements in the trophoblast cell lineage. Loss of function disrupts specification of the invasive spiral artery-associated trophoblast giant cells (SpA-TGCs) surrounding maternal blood vessels and severely compromises the ability of the spongiotrophoblast layer to expand appropriately, secondarily causing collapse of the underlying labyrinth layer. Additionally, we identify a population of proliferating Blimp1+ diploid cells present within the spongiotrophoblast layer. Lineage tracing experiments exploiting a novel Prdm1.Cre-LacZ allele demonstrate that these Blimp1+ cells give rise to the mature SpA-TGCs, canal TGCs, and glycogen trophoblasts. In sum, the transcriptional repressor Blimp1/Prdm1 is required for terminal differentiation of SpA-TGCs and defines a lineage-restricted progenitor cell population contributing to placental growth and morphogenesis.
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Footnotes
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↵2 Corresponding author
E-mail elizabeth.robertson{at}path.ox.ac.uk
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Supplemental material is available for this article.
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Article is online at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.199828.112.
- Received June 29, 2012.
- Accepted July 25, 2012.
- Copyright © 2012 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
Freely available online through the Genes & Development Open Access option.