Home Cell Biology Ex Vivo Perfusion of the Rodent Placenta
Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Ex Vivo Perfusion of the Rodent Placenta

DOI: 10.3791/59412-v
What you'll learn
  • Perform maternal-fetal vascular perfusion on isolated rodent placenta
  • Evaluate placental transfer of xenobiotic particles and pharmacological agents
  • Collect samples and assess placental physiological parameters ex vivo
Protocol

Here is presented a protocol of ex vivo maternal-fetal vascular perfusion to enable the administration of a test article into maternal vasculature and to evaluate placental transfer of xenobiotic particles or pharmacological agents in addition to alterations in placental physiology.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~2–3 hours per placenta (including harvest, perfusion setup, and sample collection)
Model organism
Rodent (mouse/rat)
Biosafety
BSL-1

Steps

1
Harvest placenta from pregnant rodent

Isolate and extract the placenta from an anaesthetized pregnant dam using sterile surgical techniques. Prepare tissue for immediate perfusion by removing excess maternal and fetal tissues.

▶ 00:40
2
Establish maternal-fetal vascular perfusion

Cannulate maternal and fetal blood vessels and initiate perfusion of the isolated placenta with oxygenated perfusate. Maintain physiological conditions to sustain placental viability and function.

▶ 03:08
3
Administer test article and collect samples

Introduce the test xenobiotic or pharmacological agent into the maternal circulation. Collect maternal, fetal, and placental tissue samples at defined timepoints to quantify transfer and distribution.

▶ 04:53
4
Analyze representative ex vivo perfusion data

Review and interpret results from a representative perfusion experiment, including placental transfer kinetics and physiological parameters measured during the procedure.

▶ 05:45
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