# Pregnant Female Reproductive Tissue Mapping Center Organ Specific Project

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2023 · $1,978,867

## Abstract

SUMMARY
The goal of the OSP is to generate the data needed to build three-dimensional multiscale maps of the human
placenta from healthy uncomplicated pregnancies. OSP1 will interact with the OAC and DAC, as well as other
HuBMAP Centers, to facilitate data and resource sharing across the Consortium and with the broader scientific
community. The placenta is the interface between mother and fetus, mediating exchange of nutrients and
metabolic wastes and producing endocrine signals that promote maintenance of the pregnancy and proper
fetal growth. The placenta is comprised largely of cells of fetal origin, including stromal cells, capillary
endothelial cells, and three types of trophoblast: proliferative cytotrophoblast; hormone-producing and
transport-mediating syncytiotrophoblast; and invasive extravillous trophoblast. The placenta also contains fetal
and maternal immune cells, which mediate immunologic responses to infection and may play roles in placental
development. Abnormalities in placental development and function have been linked to the most common and
serious complications of pregnancy, but details of the mechanisms leading to adverse pregnancy outcomes
remain to be elucidated. The complementary strengths of our investigative team enable us to obtain prenatal in
vivo MRI and ultrasound imaging data and post-delivery molecular profiling data from the same organs.
Rigorous pre-analytical and characterization pipelines will ensure collection of high-quality biospecimens and
generation of reproducible data. A range of advanced molecular profiling techniques will be used, including
bulk and single-nucleus transcriptomic, chromatin accessibility, and extracellular matrix proteomic profiling, and
high-resolution multiplexed spatial transcriptomic and imaging mass cytometry technologies. We will combine a
survey approach (in which we will collect data from a small number of samples/sections from many subjects,
which will allow us to detect potential differences associated with variables such as fetal sex, mode of delivery,
or maternal factors) with a deep dive approach (in which we will collect data from many serial sections from a
small number tissue blocks, to build a detailed model of tissue architecture). To generate foundational
knowledge to serve as the basis of future studies aimed at identifying the structural and functional
perturbations that underlie placental dysfunction-mediated pregnancy complications, we propose two Sub-
Aims: C.1. To generate a reference dataset from normal term placentas, uterine endomyometrium, fallopian
tubes, and maternal serum, to enable construction of 3D multiscale maps of these normal pregnant
reproductive tissues at term, and to map extracellular RNA-mediated signaling between the placenta and
maternal tissues; and C.2. To generate a reference dataset from placentas across gestation, to enable
construction of 3D multiscale maps of the developing human placenta, and tracking of the differentiation and
migra...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10670434
- **Project number:** 5U54HD110347-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Mana M Parast
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $1,978,867
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10670434

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10670434, Pregnant Female Reproductive Tissue Mapping Center Organ Specific Project (5U54HD110347-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10670434. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*