Studies performed using preeclampsia placental tissues have shown that the expression of VEGFA is upregulated in maternal decidual cells, whereas the expression of sFlt-1 is highly overexpressed in fetal EVTs that invade the decidua, indicating that EVTs overexpress sFlt-1 in self-defense against excessive VEGFA production by maternal decidual cells (Fan et al., 2014; Whigham et al., 2019). The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is preeclampsia.