Characterizing the Human Menstrual Cycle from a gene co-expression perspective reveals the pregnant endometrium as a global transcriptionally derepressed state

ABSTRACT: Background: a fundamental challenge for reproductive biology is to understand the menstrual cycle, specially the window of implantation, whose regulation and mechanistic remain incompletely understood in human reproductive physiology. Transcriptomics from a systems biology perspective provides a genomic framework to discover endometrial tissue specific regulation and behavior and its function in reproductive physiology. Results: Here, we applied a transcriptomic analysis of 238 endometrial receptivity related genes using a customized Agilent platform. 507 human endometrial biopsies were analyzed among the menstrual cycle, especially in the expected window of implantation and divided in to transcriptomic profiles using machine learning predictors (SVM and KNN models). The clinical relevance of these profiles was tested defining the best transcriptomic profile for pregnancy and live birth. Weighed Gene Co-expression Networks (WGCN) was applied is these clinically well-defined endometrial states to characterize the gene co-expression tissue specific regulation in humans for pregnancy in comparison with the other transcriptomic stages of menstrual cycle. For the first time, the menstrual cycle has been mapped as a percentage of positive and negative correlations between genes. Thanks to this approach, we have discovered the WOI as the fewest negatively correlated state with the highest proportion of positive correlations (Cochran´s Q = 14324.12, FDR < 2.2e-16) with an average of 84% of positive correlations in pregnant profile, while 53% in the two previous Proliferative (PF) and Early Pre-Receptive profiles and 67% in the late secretory endometrium, just before menstruation renewal. Finally, this study provides a wealth of network data to the scientific community to stimulate hypothesis-driven single-molecule endometrial studies in the form of a user-friendly database called the Menstrual Cycle Gene Co-expression Network (website: www.menstrualcyclegcn.com). Conclusions: this genomic research reveals for first time the pregnant endometrium as a global derepressed state in human menstrual cycle. This indicates the endometrium is generally a repressive tissue in human menstrual cycle with a relaxed WOI period where gene expression reaches the highest proportion of positive correlation, indicating that a decrease of inhibition may allow embryo implantation. Detailed molecular information about co-expression among menstrual cycle is also provided.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE126581 | GEO | 2021/09/15

REPOSITORIES: GEO