Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal InterfaceGabrielle A. Rizzuto 1,2, Mirhan Kapidzic 3, Matthew Gormley 3, Anna I. Bakardjiev 1,4,5
1Benioff Children’s Hospital, 2Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, 3Center for Reproductive Sciences and Department of Obstetrics, University of California, San Francisco, 4Program in Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Defense, University of California, San Francisco, 5Biomedical Sciences Program, University of California, San Francisco
A simple method to establish primary human placental (villous) and decidual organ cultures is described. Villous and decidual organ cultures are invaluable tools for studying pathogenesis at the human maternal-fetal interface. Infection with the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is demonstrated.