Dr Ana Paredes Garcia

The placenta is an extraembryonic organ made by the embryo that plays a crucial role in its nourishment and protection. After implantation, trophoblasts, the epithelial-like cells of the placenta, detach and migrate towards the maternal uterine wall to enlarge the arteries, facilitating the continuous delivery of blood to the placental-uterine interface. As trophoblasts migrate into the uterus, they encounter distinct maternal microenvironments and metabolic cues that guide their differentiation and function. Although metabolism has emerged as a key regulator of cell identity, its role in driving cell transitions in the human placenta remains poorly understood. In my postdoctoral research, I aim to determine the regulatory networks driving metabolic changes in trophoblasts as they migrate and differentiate, by combining multi-omics techniques, computational methods and gene editing tools. These findings will enable the reconstruction of metabolic-driven mechanisms governing uterine-placental interface physiology. Understanding this complex process could provide insights into pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia, a metabolic disorder caused by defective trophoblast invasion and insufficient arterial transformation. Furthermore, this project may have a potential translatability in cancer research, where metabolic heterogeneity during invasion plays a critical role in malignancy.