Lentiviral vector-mediated complementation restored fetal viability but not placental hyperplasia in Plac1-deficient mice

Masanaga Muto, Yoshitaka Fujihara, Tomohiro Tobita, Daiji Kiyozumi, Masahito Ikawa, Lentiviral Vector-Mediated Complementation Restored Fetal Viability but Not Placental Hyperplasia in Plac1-Deficient Mice, Biology of Reproduction, Volume 94, Issue 1, 1 January 2016, 6, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1095/biolreprod.115.13345

CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing in ES cells and its application for chimeric analysis in mice

Oji, A., Noda, T., Fujihara, Y. et al. CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genome editing in ES cells and its application for chimeric analysis in mice. Sci Rep 6, 31666 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep3166

Similarities and differences in placental development between humans and cynomolgus monkeys

Background: The placenta is an extraembryonic organ, which is essential to maintain a normal pregnancy. However, placental development in humans is poorly understood because of technical and ethical reasons. Methods: We analyzed the anatomical localization of each trophoblastic subtype in the cynomolgus monkey placenta by immunohistochemistry in the early second trimester. Histological differences among the mouse, cynomolgus monkey, and human placenta were compared. The PubMed database was used to search for studies on placentation in rodents and primates. Main findings: The anatomical structures and subtypes of the placenta in cynomolgus monkeys are highly similar to those in humans, with the exception of fewer interstitial extravillous trophoblasts in cynomolgus monkeys. Conclusion: The cynomolgus monkey appears to be a good animal model to investigate human placentation.journal articl

Elf5-centered transcription factor hub controls trophoblast stem cell self-renewal and differentiation through stoichiometry sensitive shifts in target gene networks

Latos, P. A., Sienerth, A. R., Murray, A., Senner, C. E., Muto, M., Ikawa, M., . . . Hemberger, M. (2015). Elf5-centered transcription factor hub controls trophoblast stem cell self-renewal and differentiation through stoichiometry sensitive shifts in target gene networks. Genes and Development, 29(23), 2435-2448. doi:10.1101/gad.268821.11

Generation of Transgenic Cynomolgus Monkeys Overexpressing the Gene for Amyloid-β Precursor Protein.

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and understanding its pathogenesis should lead to improved therapeutic and diagnostic methods. Although several groups have developed transgenic mouse models overexpressing the human amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) gene with AD mutations, with and without presenilin mutations, as well as APP gene knock-in mouse models, these animals display amyloid pathology but do not show neurofibrillary tangles or neuronal loss. This presumably is due to differences between the etiology of the aged-related human disease and the mouse models. Here we report the generation of two transgenic cynomolgus monkeys overexpressing the human gene for APP with Swedish, Artic, and Iberian mutations, and demonstrated expression of gene tagged green fluorescent protein marker in the placenta, amnion, hair follicles, and peripheral blood. We believe that these nonhuman primate models will be very useful to study the pathogenesis of dementia and AD. However, generated Tg monkeys still have some limitations. We employed the CAG promoter, which will promote gene expression in a non-tissue specific manner. Moreover, we used transgenic models but not knock-in models. Thus, the inserted transgene destroys endogenous gene(s) and may affect the phenotype(s). Nevertheless, it will be of great interest to determine whether these Tg monkeys will develop tauopathy and neurodegeneration similar to human AD

Ex vivo Trophoblast-specific Genetic Manipulation Using Lentiviral Delivery

In this protocol report, we describe a lentiviral gene delivery technique for genetic modification of the rat trophoblast cell lineage. Lentiviral packaged gene constructs can be efficiently and specifically delivered to the trophoblast cell lineage of the blastocyst. The consequences of ‘gain-of-function’ and ‘loss-of-function’ blastocyst manipulations can be evaluated with in vitro outgrowth assays or following transfer to pseudopregnant rats

<i>Lvrn</i> expression is not critical for mouse placentation

Tomohiro TOBITA, Daiji KIYOZUMI, Masanaga MUTO, Taichi NODA, Masahito IKAWA, Lvrn expression is not critical for mouse placentation, Journal of Reproduction and Development, 2019, Volume 65, Issue 3, Pages 239-244, Released June 14, 2019, [Advance publication] Released February 10, 2019, Online ISSN 1348-4400, Print ISSN 0916-8818, https://doi.org/10.1262/jrd.2018-157, https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jrd/65/3/65_2018-157/_article/-char/e