Nrf2 signalling and autophagy are involved in diabetes mellitus-induced defects in the development of mouse placenta

It is widely accepted that diabetes mellitus impairs placental development, but the mechanism by which the disease operates to impair development remains controversial. In this study, we demonstrated that pregestational diabetes mellitus (PGDM)-induced defects in placental development in mice are mainly characterized by the changes of morphological structure of placenta. The alteration of differentiation-related gene expressions in trophoblast cells rather than cell proliferation/apoptosis is responsible for the phenotypes found in mouse placenta. Meanwhile, excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and activated nuclear factor erythroid2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signalling were observed in the placenta of mice suffering from PGDM. Using BeWo cells, we also demonstrated that excess ROS was produced and Nrf2 signalling molecules were activated in settings characterized by a high concentration of glucose. More interestingly, differentiation-related gene expressions in trophoblast cells were altered when endogenous Nrf2 expression is manipulated by transfecting Nrf2-wt or Nrf2-shRNA. In addition, PGDM interferes with autophagy in both mouse placenta and BeWo cells, implying that autophagy is also involved, directly or indirectly, in PGDM-induced placental phenotypes. Therefore, we revealed that dysfunctional oxidative stress-activated Nrf2 signalling and autophagy are probably responsible for PGDM-induced defects in the placental development of mice. The mechanism was through the interference with differentiation-related gene expression in trophoblast cells.