Dataset Information

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin-Mediated Immune Responses That Facilitate Embryo Implantation and Placentation.

ABSTRACT: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) serves as one of the first signals provided by the embryo to the mother. Exactly at the time when the first step of the implantation process is initiated and the blastocyst adheres to the maternal endometrium, the embryonic tissue starts to actively secrete hCG. Shortly thereafter, the hormone can be detected in the maternal circulation where its concentration steadily increases throughout early pregnancy as it is continuously released by the forming placenta. Accumulating evidence underlines the critical function of hCG for embryo implantation and placentation. hCG not only regulates biological aspects of these early pregnancy events but also supports maternal immune cells in their function as helpers in the establishment of an adequate embryo-endometrial relationship. In view of its early presence in the maternal circulation, hCG has the potential to influence both local uterine immune cell populations as well as peripheral ones. The current review aims to summarize recent literature on the participation of innate and adaptive immune cells in embryo implantation and placentation with a specific focus on their regulation by hCG.

SUBMITTER: Schumacher A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6914810 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin-Mediated Immune Responses That Facilitate Embryo Implantation and Placentation.

Schumacher Anne A Zenclussen Ana C AC

Frontiers in immunology 20191210

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) serves as one of the first signals provided by the embryo to the mother. Exactly at the time when the first step of the implantation process is initiated and the blastocyst adheres to the maternal endometrium, the embryonic tissue starts to actively secrete hCG. Shortly thereafter, the hormone can be detected in the maternal circulation where its concentration steadily increases throughout early pregnancy as it is continuously released by the forming placenta. ...[more]

PMID: 31921157

Similar Datasets

Project description:Immunopathological outcomes in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE; or lupus) are believed to be autoantibody-mediated. Conditions which promote a Th2 skew (such as pregnancy) should encourage antibody production, worsening antibody-mediated diseases while ameliorating Th1/Th17-mediated diseases. Although an increased propensity toward autoreactivity can be observed in pregnant lupus patients and in pregnant lupus-prone mice, whether a unique human pregnancy-specific factor can contribute to such effects is unknown. This study assessed whether human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, a pregnancy-specific hormone of diverse function) at physiological concentrations could mediate stimulatory influences on immune parameters in non-pregnant, lupus-prone mice, in light of the hormone's ameliorating effects on Th1-mediated autoimmunity in murine models. Results demonstrate that administration of hCG heightened global autoreactivity in such mice; antibodies to dsDNA, RNP68, Protein S, Protein C, β2-glycoprotein 1, and several phospholipids were enhanced, and hormone administration had adverse effects on animal survival. Specifically in splenic cell cultures containing cells derived from lupus-prone mice, hCG demonstrated synergistic effects with TLR ligands (up-modulation of costimulatory markers on B cells) as well as with TCR stimuli (enhanced proliferative responses, enhanced levels of cytokines, and the phosphorylation of p38). In both instances, enhanced synthesis of lupus-associated cytokines was observed, in addition to the heightened generation of autoantibodies reactive toward apoptotic blebs. These results suggest that selective transducive, proliferative, and differentiative effects of hCG on adaptive immune cells may drive autoreactive responses in a lupus environment, and may also potentially provide insights into the association between the presence of higher hCG levels (or the administration of hCG) with the presence (or appearance) of humoral autoimmunity.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Several studies have indicated that human pre-implantation embryo-derived chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) may influence the implantation process by its action on human endometrial epithelial and stromal cells. Despite reports indicating that hCG acts on these cells to affect the production of several cytokines and growth factors (e.g., MIF, IGF-I, VEGF, LIF, IL-11, GMCSF, CXL10 and FGF2), our understanding of the integral influence of hCG on paracrine interactions between endometrial stromal and epithelial cells during implantation is very limited. METHODS: In the present study, we examined the profile of 48 cytokines in the conditioned media of primary cell cultures of human implantation stage endometrium. Endometrial epithelial cells (group 1; n?=?20), stromal cells (group 2; n?=?20), and epithelial plus stromal cells (group 3; n?=?20) obtained from mid-secretory stage endometrial samples (n?=?60) were grown on collagen and exposed to different doses (0, 1, 10 and 100 IU/ml) of rhCG for 24 h in vitro. Immunochemical and qRT-PCR methods were used to determine cytokine profiles. Enrichment and process networks analyses were implemented using a list of cytokines showing differential secretion in response to hCG. RESULTS: Under basal conditions, endometrial epithelial and stromal cells exhibited cell type-specific profiles of secreted cytokines. Administration of hCG (100 IU) resulted in significantly (P?<?0.05) different cytokine secretion profiles indicative of macropinocytic transport (HGF, MCSF) in epithelial cells, signal transduction (CCL4, FGF2, IL-1b, IL-6, IL-17, VEGF) in stromal cells, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (FGF2, HGF, IL-1b, TNF) in mixed cells. Overall, the administration of hCG affected cytokines involved in the immune response, chemotaxis, inflammatory changes, proliferation, cell adhesion and apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: CG can influence the function of the endometrium during blastocyst implantation via its differential action on endometrial epithelial and stromal cells. CG may also affect complex paracrine processes in the different endometrial cell types.

Dataset Information

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin-Mediated Immune Responses That Facilitate Embryo Implantation and Placentation.

Publications

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin-Mediated Immune Responses That Facilitate Embryo Implantation and Placentation.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets