Extracellular Vesicles in Feto-Maternal Crosstalk and Pregnancy Disorders

Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Mar 19;21(6):2120. doi: 10.3390/ijms21062120.

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) actively participate in inter-cellular crosstalk and have progressively emerged as key players of organized communities of cells within multicellular organisms in health and disease. For these reasons, EVs are attracting the attention of many investigators across different biomedical fields. In this scenario, the possibility to study specific placental-derived EVs in the maternal peripheral blood may open novel perspectives in the development of new early biomarkers for major obstetric pathological conditions. Here we reviewed the involvement of EVs in feto-maternal crosstalk mechanisms, both in physiological and pathological conditions (preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, preterm labor, gestational diabetes mellitus), also underlining the usefulness of EV characterization in maternal-fetal medicine.

Keywords: fetal growth restriction; gestational diabetes mellitus; placental extracellular vesicles; pre-eclampsia; preterm-labor; syncytiotrophoblast.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers / blood
  • Biomarkers / metabolism
  • Diabetes, Gestational / metabolism*
  • Extracellular Vesicles / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Fetal Growth Retardation / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Maternal-Fetal Exchange*
  • Placenta / metabolism*
  • Pre-Eclampsia / metabolism*
  • Pregnancy

Substances

  • Biomarkers