Feng Li

Obesity is a risk factor for preeclampsia. We investigated how obesity influences preeclampsia in mice lacking ankyrin-repeat-and-SOCS-box-containing-protein 4 (ASB4), which promotes trophoblast differentiation via degrading the inhibitor of DNA-binding protein 2 (ID2). Asb4−/− mice on normal chow (NC) develop mild preeclampsia-like phenotypes during pregnancy, including hypertension, proteinuria, and reduced litter size. Wild-type (WT) and Asb4−/− females were placed on a high-fat diet (HFD) starting at weaning. At the age of 8–9 weeks, they were mated with WT or Asb4−/− males, and preeclamptic phenotypes were assessed. HFD-WT dams had no obvious adverse outcomes of pregnancy. In contrast, HFD-Asb4−/− dams had significantly more severe preeclampsia-like phenotypes compared to NC-Asb4−/− dams. The HFD increased white fat weights and plasma leptin and insulin levels in Asb4−/− females. In the HFD-Asb4−/− placenta, ID2 amounts doubled without changing the transcript levels, indicating that insulin likely increases ID2 at a level of post-transcription. In human first-trimester trophoblast HTR8/SVneo cells, exposure to insulin, but not to leptin, led to a significant increase in ID2. HFD-induced obesity markedly worsens the preeclampsia-like phenotypes in the absence of ASB4. Our data indicate that hyperinsulinemia perturbs the timely removal of ID2 and interferes with proper trophoblast differentiation, contributing to enhanced preeclampsia.