Preeclampsia (PE) is a complex syndrome, in which the mother develops hypertension and proteinuria during the second half of pregnancy. The only definitive treatment for the life threatening symptoms is the delivery of the premature baby. The exact pathways are poorly understood, but the placenta plays a central role.

We showed that galectin-1, a sugar-binding protein, is involved in placental dysfunction and thus PE development. In the REPRODOMICS project, we use our gal-1 knockout mouse models to investigate how maternal or foetal gal-1 contributes to changes in metabolites, which are the closest reflection of the physiological state, in placental tissue and biofluids. This offers a great chance to decipher the early mechanisms in PE development and identify predictive biomarkers.