A novel role of FoxO3a in the migration and invasion of trophoblast cells: from metabolic remodeling to transcriptional reprogramming

Abstract

Background: The forkhead box O3a protein (FoxO3a) has been reported to be involved in the migration and invasion of trophoblast, but its underlying mechanisms unknown. In this study, we aim to explore the transcriptional and metabolic regulations of FoxO3a on the migration and invasion of early placental development. Methods: Lentiviral vectors were used to knock down the expression of FoxO3a of the HTR8/SVneo cells. Western blot, matrigel invasion assay, wound healing assay, seahorse, gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) based metabolomics, fluxomics, and RNA-seq transcriptomics were performed. Results: We found that FoxO3a depletion restrained the migration and invasion of HTR8/SVn..