# PLACENTAL MECHANISMS OF CELLULAR TRANSPORT

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 1994 · $264,202

## Abstract

The overall goal of this project is the investigation of the cellular
physiology of the placental transfer of important nutrients and the
regulation of these processes by mechanisms with the potential to operate
in the intrauterine environment.  During the forthcoming project period,
investigations will focus on the transfer of amino acids, calcium and
glucose.  Amino acids are utilized by the fetus for growth and catabolism;
glucose is a major fetal nutrient and calcium is essential for skeletal
mineralization.  The importance of these processes to the fetus the large
quantities utilized, and the clinical importance of disorders of fetal
growth and neonatal calcium metabolism all point to the importance of
understanding the placental transfer of these substances.

The strengths of the project are:  (1) its use of well-characterized
specific preparations of each of the two plasma membranes and of
subcellular material from the syncytiotrophoblast, some of which were
developed specifically for this project; (2) its relatively unique
application to the placenta of established methods for the elucidation of
cellular transport mechanisms whose utility has been proven in widely
accepted reports from laboratories studying a variety of cellular and
subcellular systems, (3) its application of cultured trophoblast using
newly available preparations which permit investigation of the regulation
of membrane transport mechanisms and their relation to trophoblast
differentiation; (4) its introduction of molecular techniques to
investigate the protein species of transporters and the cellular machinery
for their synthesis.  Specific aims include the characterization and
comparison of calcium transport mechanisms of the syncytial microvillous
and basal plasma membranes and cytoplasm; the characterization of amino
acid transport systems and glucose transporters of the two plasma
membranes; the development of cultured trophoblast as a model to
investigate amino acid, calcium, and glucose transport; and the
investigation of the regulation of trophoblast mechanisms for calcium,
amino acid, and glucose transport.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 2195866
- **Project number:** 5R01HD007562-21
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** L6NFUM28LQM5
- **Principal Investigator:** CARL H SMITH
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1994
- **Award amount:** $264,202
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1977-03-01 → 1996-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2195866

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 2195866, PLACENTAL MECHANISMS OF CELLULAR TRANSPORT (5R01HD007562-21). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/2195866. Licensed CC0.

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