Placenta-educated maternal platelets (PEPs)

Platelets are small, circulating blood cells, which are built in the bone marrow. Recent biomolecular analyses of platelets suggest aberrant RNA and protein profiles under pathological conditions, including cardiovascular disease, blood cancer and solid tissue tumors. In the case of cancer, platelets have been described to be educated by tumor-released factors. This fascinating concept may be translated to pregnancy, when placenta released factors potentially modify the content and function of maternal platelets. In human pregnancy, maternal platelets show increased activity that is even more increased in the pregnancy disorder preeclampsia. To prove the concept of placenta-educated platelets, this project will study the influence of pregnancy and placenta-related factors on the fromation and content of platelets in different stages of gestation. For this purpose, platelets from healthy pregnant donors, who donated blood in all three trimesters of gestation, and those with preeclampsia, will be subjected to RNA and protein analyses. Moreover, functional assays, such as energy production or formation of aggregates of platelets with other circulating blood cells will be performed. In addition, influence of pregnancy and placenta-related factors on the formation of platelets will be elucidated in a human bone marrow cell line and a rat model. This project is of significance as it could fill a gap in our knowledge on the maternal platelet content and it may contribute to our understanding of pregnancy pathologies related to a prothrombotic state. Identification of different platelet subgroups in pregnancy, with different response to anti-platelet drugs could provide the basis for new therapeutic strategies.