**About the Editors**

### **Hiten D. Mistry**

Dr. Hiten Mistry is the Senior Research Fellow, Department of Women and Children's Health, School of Life Course and Population Health Sciences, King's College London, working on a range of global women's health studies. Dr. Mistry received a first-class BSc (Hons) in biochemistry with industrial experience from the University of Manchester Institution of Science and Technology (UMIST). He trained as a PhD scientist in Professor Fiona Broughton Pipkin's lab, University of Nottingham, followed by 6 years as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Professor Lucilla Poston at King's College London and Personal Fellowships at the Universities of Bern (European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplantation Association Long-term Fellowship) and Nottingham (British Heart Foundation, Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship). Dr. Mistry's main research interests are the pathophysiology of the hypertensive diseases of pregnancy and nutrition in pregnancy. He has published widely in the field, including peer-reviewed journals, expert reviews, book chapters, Guest Editor for Special Issues, and conference proceedings. He is also on the Editorial board for *Placenta*; Associate Editor for *Frontiers in Cardiovascular and Smooth Muscle Pharmacology*; Review Editor for *Frontiers in Reproduction*, *Frontiers in Developmental Endocrinology* and *Frontiers in Integrative Physiology*; and Topical Advisory Panel Member for *IJMS*.

### **Eun Lee**

Dr. Eun Lee is the Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA. Her laboratory's research interest is in immunological contributions to the development of pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction, and repeated spontaneous miscarriage, focusing on placenta development during early pregnancy. Dr. Lee received her PhD from the University of Cincinnati and special research associate training at Harvard University, followed by additional training as a Research Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University, Department of Transplant Surgery. She has published widely in the field, including peer-reviewed journals and expert reviews, and has served as Guest Editor for Special Issues and conference proceedings. She is also on the editorial board for *Frontiers in Cellular Biology*.

## *Editorial* **Placental Related Disorders of Pregnancy**

**Eun D. Lee <sup>1</sup> and Hiten D. Mistry 2,\***


We are pleased to present this Special Issue of *International Journal of Molecular Sciences*, entitled 'Placental Related Disorders of Pregnancy'. The placenta is a unique organ, produced outside the embryo and connected by a cord of vessels, and is formed as a result of various degrees of interactions between fetal and maternal tissues within the pregnant uterus. The placenta fulfils a variety of functions, which are completed by several different organs in adult life. Unlike the relatively stable mature adult organs, the placenta is programmed to complete very different functions during development. Thus, the placenta can be described as a constantly evolving organ. Its major role is the homeostasis of a protected environment for the undisturbed growth and development of an embryo/fetus.

Placental-related disorders of pregnancy are almost unique to the human species and affect around a third of human pregnancies. Many of these disorders result in increased maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity and can have life-long health implications for both the mother and her child. Recent changes in human lifestyle, such as delayed childbirth and hypercaloric diets, may have increased the global incidence of placentalrelated disorders over recent decades.

This Special Issue is a compilation of 21 research manuscripts and reviews, covering all aspects of placentation, with a particular focus on those related to placental function and disorders of pregnancy. The manuscripts cover aspects of placental physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, and clinical and animal models are also included in this excellent Special Issue.

This collection contains some excellent reviews. The first review covers the homeostasis of the cytokine interleukin-15 (IL-15) in healthy pregnancy, providing up-to-date mechanisms of the action of IL-15 at the maternal–fetal interface [1]. A fascinating review by Anthony Carter covers why human placentation is so unique, with in-depth details on placentation in different animals to wonderfully illustrate this [2]. This is followed by a comprehensive review covering the important condition of gestational diabetes and the contribution of the placenta in the associated immunoendocrine dysregulation [3]. Finally, a very topical and informative overview highlighting the role of the placenta and the use of low-dose aspirin in the prevention of pre-eclampsia [4,5]. In addition to the reviews, our collection also contains several novel studies covering pre-eclampsia [6–8]; fetal growth restriction [7,9–11]; calcium signaling [12]; placental oxidative stress, nutrition, senescence and apoptosis [6,9,13–15]; sexual dimorphism [16–18], intrahepatic cholestasis [19]; placental vascular modelling [20]; and placental villous explant culture models [21].

This Special Issue presents placental research using a range of established and stateof-the-art techniques showcasing novel and up-to-date data to enhance and facilitate our understanding of placentation as well as mechanisms that result in associated adverse pregnancy outcomes, as well as longer-term risks of complications.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Citation:** Lee, E.D.; Mistry, H.D. Placental Related Disorders of Pregnancy. *Int. J. Mol. Sci.* **2022**, *23*, 3519. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijms23073519

Received: 14 March 2022 Accepted: 22 March 2022 Published: 24 March 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

### **References**

