Extracellular vesicles & cell-to-cell communication

The ultimate demonstration of the functional contribution of cell-to-cell communication during pregnancy is through several in vitro and in vivo observations. If extracellular vesicles containing miRNAs are present in the uterine environment, then they must be an important element of information transfer between uterus and trophoblast, no matter their molecular mode of action.

Although great progress has been made in mapping miRNAs, very few have been tested for physiological relevance. Thus, we have set out to identifying miRNAs packed in extracellular vesicles and generating in vitro models to test their functional impact on cell-to-cell communication during pregnancy.