Abstract
The layers of the epithelial syncytium, i.e., syncytiotrophoblasts, differentiate from chorionic trophoblasts via cell fusion and separate maternal and fetal circulations in hemochorial placentas. L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1) and its covalently linked ancillary subunit 4F2hc are colocalized on both maternal and fetal surfaces of syncytiotrophoblasts, implying their roles in amino acid transfer through the placental barrier. In this study, LAT1 knockout, in addition, revealed a novel role of LAT1 in syncytiotrophoblast development. LAT1 at midgestation was selectively expressed in trophoblastic lineages in the placenta, exclusively as a LAT1-4F2hc heterodimer. In LAT1 homozygous knockout mice, chorionic trophoblasts remained largely mononucleated, and the layers of syncytiotrophoblasts were almost completely absent. The amount of 4F2hc protein, which possesses a fusogenic function in trophoblastic cells, as well as in virus-infected cells, was drastically reduced by LAT1 knockout, with less affecting the mRNA level. Knockdown of LAT1 in trophoblastic BeWo cells also reduced 4F2hc protein and suppressed forskolin-induced cell fusion. These results demonstrate a novel fundamental role of LAT1 to support the protein expression of 4F2hc via a chaperone-like function in chorionic trophoblasts and to promote syncytiotrophoblast formation by contributing to cell fusion in the developing placenta.