MGST1 alleviates the oxidative stress of trophoblast cells induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation and promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Preeclampsia (PE) is a common pregnancy-specific syndrome with an incidence of 4.6% in all pregnant women. Numerous studies have uncovered the functions and mechanisms of microsomal glutathione transferase 1 (MGST1) in different diseases and cellular processes, but whether MGST1 plays a role in PE remains unclear. Our study aimed to investigate the regulatory role of MGST1 in PE progression. In this study, the HTR8/SVneo cells were incubated with CoCl(2) (250 µM) to mimic hypoxia in trophoblasts. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that MGST1 was dramatically reduced in the placenta of PE patients. The proliferation of HTR8/SVneo cells was assessed via the Cell Counting Kit-8 and colony formation assays, and the results showed that MGST1 upregulation increased the cell viability of HTR8/SVneo cells. In addition, wound healing and Transwell assays unveiled that the elevation of MGST1 enhanced trophoblast cell migration and invasion. Moreover, the upregulation of MGST1 alleviated the hypoxia-induced oxidative stress in trophoblast cell. Mechanically, we found that MGST1 regulated PE progression by activating the phosphoinositide-3-kinase/protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) pathway. In conclusion, MGST1 alleviated the oxidative stress of trophoblast cells induced by hypoxia/reoxygenation and promoted cell proliferation, migration, and invasion via the activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in PE. These results suggested that MGST1 can be a potential target for the prevention and treatment of PE.