CHAPTER 8: The Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Aging of the Human Placenta

The human placenta is a highly specialized organ that carries out many critical roles to ensure embryogenesis and promote fetal growth. The human placenta is a short-lived organ but recent studies reveal senescence and aging at the tissue, cellular and molecular level are features of normal placental development and occur with advancing gestational age. Extracellular vesicles are a heterogeneous group of cell-derived, lipid membrane-enveloped structures that are continually released by placental cells, which affect changes not only in neighboring cells but also distal cells. Moreover, placental extracellular vesicles are released into both the maternal and fetal circulation where they have wide ranging effects. In this chapter, we provide examples where extracellular vesicle-mediated paracrine mechanisms appear to have a role not only in cellular senescence and aging of normal human placentae with advancing gestational age but also in premature and advanced aging associated with important placental pathologies.