Genetic ablation of placental sinusoidal trophoblast giant cells causes fetal growth restriction and embryonic lethality

A specialized subtype of trophoblast giant cells (TGCs) line the torturous sinusoids of the murine placental labyrinth, and can be distinguished from most other TGCs by the expression of Ctsq. We generated a transgenic mouse line expressing Cre recombinase from the Ctsq promoter. Crosses with Cre-inducible tdTomato reporter mice indicated Cre activity was restricted to the sinusoidal TGCs of the labyrinth, as well as the recently characterized channel TGCs. When crossed with Cre-inducible DTA transgenic mice, ablation of sinusoidal TGCs was achieved in double transgenic embryos, resulting in fetal growth restriction by E16.5, and embryonic lethality by term.