<p>Preeclampsia is a severe pregnancy complication marked by impaired trophoblast function and abnormal placental development, leading to significant maternal and fetal morbidity. FK506-binding protein-like (FKBPL) has been identified as a potential biomarker as it is significantly downregulated in early pregnancy stages of women who progress to develop preeclampsia. However, editing the <i>Fkbpl</i> gene in trophoblast cells to create a model of preeclampsia using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) technology is challenging due to inefficient delivery, leading to low editing efficiency and reduced cell viability. To address these challenges, we developed a cost-effective and minimally invasive mechanoporation system using micro-engineered filters to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid DNA (pDNA) targeting the <i>Fkbpl</i> gene into trophoblast cells. This approach successfully generated cell lines with a 38% knockout (K/O) of <i>Fkbpl</i> expression, significantly reducing cell migration (wildtype (WT): 28.77% ± 4.7 vs. 38% K/O: 4.95% ± 0.8, wound closure, **<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01) and proliferation (WT: 1.26 ± 0.06 vs. 38% K/O: 0.81 ± 0.01, ****<i>p</i> &lt; 0.0001). Lower <i>Fkbpl-</i>K/O efficiency of 17% showed a similar reduction in cell proliferation as the 38% K/O clone. Although a full <i>Fkbpl</i>-K/O in the ACH-3P first-trimester trophoblast cell line was not achieved, the partial K/O provided valuable insights into <i>Fkbpl’s</i> role in trophoblast function relevant to preeclampsia pathogenesis. Moreover, treatment with mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) or MSC-sEVs did not restore migratory capacity in <i>Fkbpl</i>-deficient cells (<i>p</i> = 0.14). MSC-sEVs increased proliferation in WT ACH-3P cells at 1 µg (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05) and 2 µg (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01) doses, however, were not effective in either 17% or 38% <i>Fkbpl-</i>K/O clones, suggesting that FKBPL is an important mechanism of MSC-sEV-mediated therapeutic effect in trophoblasts in the context of preeclampsia. This study advances gene-editing techniques in placental biology and proposes new therapeutic strategies and mechanisms for pregnancy-related complications.</p><p></p>

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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in trophoblast cells via mechanoporation for preeclampsia insight

  • Dorsa Morshedi Rad,
  • Claire Richards,
  • Sareh Zhand,
  • Natasha de Alwis,
  • Natalie J Hannan,
  • Alen Faiz,
  • Lana McClements,
  • Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani

摘要

Preeclampsia is a severe pregnancy complication marked by impaired trophoblast function and abnormal placental development, leading to significant maternal and fetal morbidity. FK506-binding protein-like (FKBPL) has been identified as a potential biomarker as it is significantly downregulated in early pregnancy stages of women who progress to develop preeclampsia. However, editing the Fkbpl gene in trophoblast cells to create a model of preeclampsia using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) technology is challenging due to inefficient delivery, leading to low editing efficiency and reduced cell viability. To address these challenges, we developed a cost-effective and minimally invasive mechanoporation system using micro-engineered filters to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid DNA (pDNA) targeting the Fkbpl gene into trophoblast cells. This approach successfully generated cell lines with a 38% knockout (K/O) of Fkbpl expression, significantly reducing cell migration (wildtype (WT): 28.77% ± 4.7 vs. 38% K/O: 4.95% ± 0.8, wound closure, **p < 0.01) and proliferation (WT: 1.26 ± 0.06 vs. 38% K/O: 0.81 ± 0.01, ****p < 0.0001). Lower Fkbpl-K/O efficiency of 17% showed a similar reduction in cell proliferation as the 38% K/O clone. Although a full Fkbpl-K/O in the ACH-3P first-trimester trophoblast cell line was not achieved, the partial K/O provided valuable insights into Fkbpl’s role in trophoblast function relevant to preeclampsia pathogenesis. Moreover, treatment with mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) or MSC-sEVs did not restore migratory capacity in Fkbpl-deficient cells (p = 0.14). MSC-sEVs increased proliferation in WT ACH-3P cells at 1 µg (p < 0.05) and 2 µg (p < 0.01) doses, however, were not effective in either 17% or 38% Fkbpl-K/O clones, suggesting that FKBPL is an important mechanism of MSC-sEV-mediated therapeutic effect in trophoblasts in the context of preeclampsia. This study advances gene-editing techniques in placental biology and proposes new therapeutic strategies and mechanisms for pregnancy-related complications.