Detail

Keywords

Developmental Biology; Endometrium; Placenta Diseases; Trophoblasts

Research interests

My main research focus is to elucidate mechanism controlling trophoblast determination. Proliferation, differentiation and specific maturation of human trophoblasts is a critical requirement for a proper placenta formation/function during pregnancy and failures are associated with pregnancy disorders such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. To date, very little is known about human trophoblast progenitor cells and key factors that would determine their differentiation route along multinucleated syncytiotrophoblasts or extravillous invasive cytotrophoblasts. The identification of such factors and pathways would improve the understanding of placenta formation and might help to elucidate the etiology of placenta-associated pregnancy disorders.

Most recently, I expanded my research interests towards the physiology and pathophysiology of endometrial glands. Human endometrial glandular organoids allow for the first time in vitro cultivation of this cell population which helps to further study physiology of the menstrual cycle as well as pathophysiological mechanisms involved in infertility, endometriosis and endometrial cancer.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Trophoblast organoids, endometrial glandular organoids, primary cell culture of human trophoblasts, villous explant culture model systems and trophoblastic cell lines are used for in vitro analysis. A broad spectrum of biochemical, cell biological, and imaging techniques are used.

Selected publications

1. Haider, S. et al., 2019. Estrogen Signaling Drives Ciliogenesis in Human Endometrial Organoids. Endocrinology, 160(10), pp.2282–2297. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/en.2019-00314.
2. Haider, S. et al., 2018. Self-Renewing Trophoblast Organoids Recapitulate the Developmental Program of the Early Human Placenta. Stem Cell Reports, 11(2), pp.537–551. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2018.07.004.
3. Haider, S. et al., 2016. Notch1 controls development of the extravillous trophoblast lineage in the human placenta. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(48), pp.E7710–E7719. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1612335113.
4. Haider, S. et al., 2014. Notch Signaling Plays a Critical Role in Motility and Differentiation of Human First-Trimester Cytotrophoblasts. Endocrinology, 155(1), pp.263–274. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/en.2013-1455.
5. Bauer, S. et al., 2004. Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Inhibits Trophoblast Migration through Elevation of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 in First-Trimester Villous Explant Cultures. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 89(2), pp.812–822. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jc.2003-031351.