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Preeclampsia (PE) differentially impairs female and male fetal endothelial cell function, which is associated with an increased risk of adult‐onset cardiovascular disorders in children born to mothers with PE. However, the underlying mechanisms are poorly defined. We hypothesize that dysregulation of microRNA‐29a‐3p and 29c‐3p (miR‐29a/c‐3p) in PE disturbs gene expression and cellular responses to cytokines in fetal endothelial cells in a fetal sex‐dependent manner. RT‐qPCR analysis of miR‐29a/c‐3p was performed on female and male unpassaged (P0) human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) from normotensive (NT) pregnancies and PE. Bioinformatic analysis of an RNA‐seq dataset was performed to identify PE‐dysregulated miR‐29a/c‐3p target genes in female and male P0‐HUVECs. Gain‐ and loss‐of‐function assays were conducted to determine the effects of miR‐29a/c‐3p on endothelial monolayer integrity and proliferation in response to transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGFβ1) and tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNFα) in NT and PE HUVECs at passage 1. We observed that PE downregulated miR‐29a/c‐3p in male and female P0‐HUVECs. PE dysregulated significantly more miR‐29a/c‐3p target genes in female vs. male P0‐HUVECs. Many of these PE‐differentially dysregulated miR‐29a/c‐3p target genes are associated with critical cardiovascular diseases and endothelial function. We further demonstrated that miR‐29a/c‐3p knockdown specifically recovered the PE‐abolished TGFβ1‐induced strengthening of endothelial monolayer integrity in female HUVECs, while miR‐29a/c‐3p overexpression specifically enhanced the TNFα‐promoted cell proliferation in male PE HUVECs. In conclusion, PE downregulates miR‐29a/c‐3p expression and differentially dysregulates miR‐29a/c‐3p target genes associated with cardiovascular diseases and endothelial function in female and male fetal endothelial cells, possibly contributing to the fetal sex‐specific endothelial dysfunction observed in PE. imageKey points Preeclampsia differentially impairs female and male fetal endothelial cell function in responses to cytokines. Pro‐inflammatory cytokines are elevated in maternal circulation during pregnancy in preeclampsia. MicroRNAs are critical regulators of endothelial cell function during pregnancy. We have previously reported that preeclampsia downregulated microRNA‐29a‐3p and 29c‐3p (miR‐29a/c‐3p) in primary fetal endothelial cells. However, it is unknown if PE differentially dysregulates the expression of miR‐29a/c‐3p in female and male fetal endothelial cells. We show that preeclampsia downregulates miR‐29a/c‐3p in male and female HUVECs and preeclampsia dysregulates cardiovascular disease‐ and endothelial function‐associated miR‐29a/c‐3p target genes in HUVECs in a fetal sex‐specific manner. MiR‐29a/c‐3p differentially mediate cell responses to cytokines in female and male fetal endothelial cells from preeclampsia. We have revealed fetal sex‐specific dysregulation of miR‐29a/c‐3p target genes in fetal endothelial cells from preeclampsia. This differential dysregulation may contribute to fetal sex‐specific endothelial dysfunction in offspring born to preeclamptic mothers.

Due to the increasing realisation of improving the utility of energy and reducing pollutant emissions, the electric vehicle has been a hot topic in electrical engineering courses. However, it is the scale evolution of electric vehicles that is the basis for investigating their impacts on the power grid. This paper presents the main steps of designing an educational tool based on system dynamic approach to understanding the electric vehicles evolution and arouses their interests in the course named Electric Vehicle and Smart Grid. This tool is a work done by a team of students based on theory and survey, calculating the size of electric vehicles. The effectiveness of this tool is verified by the case studies in this paper, including the scale evolution, analysing the influence factors and stimulating students’ interests. In addition, this tool has been used in teaching to demonstrate the scale evolution intuitively, thus achieving better teaching.