Hamzic E, Cartwright J E, Keogh R J, Whitley G Stj, Greenhill D, Hoppe A
Digital Imaging Research Centre, Faculty of Computing, Information Systems and Mathematics, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE, UK.
Exp Cell Res. 2008 Apr 15;314(7):1455-64. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2008.01.017. Epub 2008 Feb 6.
In early pregnancy, fetal trophoblasts selectively invade and remodel maternal spiral arteries. A healthy pregnancy is dependent on this adaptation to allow sufficient maternal blood to reach the placenta and the developing fetus. However, little is known of the role played by trophoblasts in this adaptation process. In this study, the interactions between trophoblast cells (TC) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) were examined using novel live cell image analysis methods which allow quantitative assessment of the behaviour of these two cell types in co-culture. TC and VSMC were simultaneously tracked in co-culture and, for each cell type, directionality, speed and the cell-cell interaction were assessed. The overall migratory behaviour of TC was markedly different in the presence of VSMC with co-cultured TC migrating further with directional movement while mono-cultured TC moved more randomly. Furthermore, TC were shown to specifically target VSMC, suggesting that invading TC may initiate targeted vascular remodelling. Analysis of movement behaviour and cell-cell attraction will be useful in other co-culture systems in addition to answering important questions in the reproductive field.
在妊娠早期，胎儿滋养层细胞选择性地侵入并重塑母体螺旋动脉。健康的妊娠依赖于这种适应性变化，以确保足够的母体血液到达胎盘和发育中的胎儿。然而，关于滋养层细胞在这一适应过程中所起的作用，我们知之甚少。在本研究中，使用新型活细胞图像分析方法检测了滋养层细胞（TC）与血管平滑肌细胞（VSMC）之间的相互作用，该方法能够对这两种细胞类型在共培养中的行为进行定量评估。在共培养中同时追踪TC和VSMC，并对每种细胞类型的方向性、速度和细胞间相互作用进行评估。在有VSMC存在的情况下，TC的整体迁移行为明显不同，共培养的TC会进行定向移动且迁移得更远，而单培养的TC移动则更随机。此外，TC被证明会特异性地靶向VSMC，这表明侵入性TC可能启动靶向血管重塑。除了回答生殖领域的重要问题外，对运动行为和细胞间吸引力的分析在其他共培养系统中也将有用。
