Drug use during
pregnancy is unavoidable. Therefore, it is vitally important for medical
workers to help
pregnant women take
drugs correctly to reduce the
incidence of
spontaneous abortion,
premature birth, and
low birth weight. In our study,
drug screening model with
induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) was used to find some improper
drugs which
will result in
woman's
abortion. With 3D
culture in vitro, iPSCs can form
embryoid bodies (EBs) and cerebral
organoids, which simulated
in vitro development of early
embryos, from inner
cell mass to germ-layer differentiation. In the experiment, EBs were exposed to
mifepristone (
RU486), and three experimental groups were divided randomly. They were
control group (without
RU486), low-
dose group (L-
RU486, 10 μg·mL-1), and high-
dose group (H-
RU486, 20 μg·mL-1). After
mifepristone exposure, EBs were observed at days 5, 8, and 11, including size of EB,
cell apoptosis, and differentiation of
germ layers, by using inverted optical microscope,
TUNEL assay, and immunofluorescent
staining. The results showed that through 3D
culture, iPSCs could develop into
embryoid bodies, neural rosettes, and finally cerebral
organoids. After
mifepristone exposure, EBs' sizes were decreased (P < 0.01); the levels of
cell apoptosis in EBs were increased after
mifepristone exposure (P < 0.01); the development of EBs'
germ layer was affected.
Mifepristone exposure could inhibit the proliferation of
embryonic stem cells, reduce the differentiation of
ectoderm (P < 0.01) and promote the development of
mesoderm (P < 0.05). In conclusion, iPSCs can be used as a
screening model for
abortion drug, and EBs’ diameter,
cell apoptosis, and differentiation changes of the
germ layers can serve as criteria of
abortion drug screening.