The failure of placental trophoblasts to differentiate properly is thought to play an important
role in the cause of pregnancy disorders such as preeclampsia. We looked at the effects of
the bioactive lipid sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) on the differentiation of primary human
cytotrophoblasts (CTs) into syncytiotrophoblasts (STs) in culture. We found that S1P
inhibited CT differentiation measured by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) secretion and
the expression of placental alkaline phosphatase but had no effect on their fusion into …