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Each year, the Hans Sigrist Foundation at the University of Bern in Switzerland puts out a call to all the professors at its eight faculties to submit proposals for a field for the coming year’s Hans Sigrist Prize.  The prize is not a lifetime achievement award, but instead, it recognizes a top mid-career academic researcher/scientist working in th…

BAP1/ASXL complex modulation regulates Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition during trophoblast differentiation and invasionVicentePerez-Garcia, PabloLopez-Jimenez, Graham JBurton, AshleyMoffett, Margherita YTurco, MyriamHembergerAbstractNormal function of the placenta depends on the earliest developmental stages when trophoblast cells differentiate an…

SummaryMammalian embryogenesis is a paradigm of regulative development as mouse embryos show plasticity in the regulation of cell fate, cell number, and tissue morphogenesis. However, the mechanisms behind embryo plasticity remain largely unknown. Here, we determine how mouse embryos respond to an increase in cell numbers to regulate the timing and…

We’re used to the idea that as adults we have some control over our destiny: what we eat and drink and how much we exercise can affect our health. But the risks of heart disease and diabetes can be programmed much earlier – even before we are born.Link to full story here

The placenta is a highly metabolically active organ fulfilling the bioenergetic and biosynthetic needs to support its own rapid growth and that of the fetus. Placental metabolic dysfunction is a common occurrence in preeclampsia although its causal relationship to the pathophysiology is unclear. At the outset, this may simply be seen as an “engine …

Fused placentas: Till birth do us partJorge Lopez-Tello, Amanda N.Sferruzzi-PerriHighlights • Twinning and placental fusion occur at a low frequency in species, like mice.• In this case report we show that placental fusion is linked with changes in the structure of the mouse placenta.• Morphological changes are seen in both the exchange and endocri…

Authors: Riley E Thompson, Aime K Johnson, Pouya Dini, Margherita Y. Turco, Tulio M Prado, Christopher Premanandan, Graham J Burton, B A Ball, Brian K Whitlock, and Budhan S PukazhenthiRead the full paper here

Phenotypic and functional characterization of first-trimester human placental macrophages, Hofbauer cellsJake R. Thomas,Anna Appios,Xiaohui Zhao,Roksana Dutkiewicz,Maria Donde,Colin Y.C. Lee,Praveena Naidu,Christopher Lee,Joana Cerveira,Bing Liu,Florent Ginhoux,Graham Burton,Russell S. Hamilton,Ashley Moffett,Andrew Sharkey, Naomi McGovernHofbauer …

Embryonic cardioprotection by hydrogen sulphide: studies of isolated cardiac function and ischaemia‐reperfusion injury in the chicken embryo.Complications during mammalian pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, maternal smoking, pregnancy at high altitude or preeclampsia can trigger a fetal origin of heart disease (Fowden et al. 2006). However, u…

Prof Graham Burton has officially retired and although we are sad to see him go, we know he will savour the joys of retirement!  Graham was Director of the CTR for the last 14 years, leading the focus of excellence to promote scientific study of the placenta and maternal-fetal interactions during pregnancy. It goes without saying that Graham will b…

Susanne Lager, Ulla Sovio, Elizabeth Eddershaw, Margaretha W. van der Linden, Cansu Yazar, Emma Cook, Lisa Happerfield, Flora A. Jessop, Neil J. Sebire, D. Stephen Charnock‐Jones, Gordon C. S. SmithAbstractKey pointsPlacental pathological abnormalities are more frequently observed in complicated pregnancies than in healthy pregnancies.Infiltration …

Establishment and differentiation of long-termtrophoblast organoid cultures from the human placenta.Megan A. Sheridan1,2, Ridma C. Fernando1,2, Lucy Gardner1,2, Michael S. Hollinshead1,Graham J. Burton2,3, Ashley Moffett1,2and Margherita Y. Turco1,2The human placenta is essential for successful reproduction. There is great variation in the anatomy …

Mitochondrial therapy in complicated pregnancies lowers the chance of cardiovascular problems in the offspring Babies that experience low oxygen levels in the womb due to pregnancy complications often go on to develop heart disease in adulthood. A study using sheep has discovered that a specialised antioxidant called MitoQ can prevent heart disease…

The first detailed analysis of post-implantation development of aneuploid human embryos have been published in Nature Communications by the Zernicka-Goetz labAbstract: Aneuploidy, the presence of an abnormal number of chromosomes, is a major cause of early pregnancy loss in humans. Yet, the developmental consequences of specific aneuploidies remain…

Why do human embryos need a yolk sac and how does it form? This Perspective by Thorsten Boroviak and Connor Ross explores the development and function of the yolk sac in primate embryogenesis.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17575-w