Project description:Single cell RNA sequencing of human first trimester placenta were generated by deep sequencing using the 10x Genomics Chromium Single Cell Gene Expression Solution (10xgenomics.com).
Project description:<p>Over 135 million births occur each year; yet, the molecular underpinnings of human parturition in gestational tissues, and in particular the placenta, are still poorly understood. The placenta is a complex heterogeneous organ including cells of both maternal and fetal origin, and insults that disrupt the maternal-fetal dialogue could result in adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth. There is limited knowledge of the cell type composition and transcriptional activity of the placenta and its compartments during physiologic and pathologic parturition. To fill this knowledge gap, we used scRNA-seq to profile the placental villous tree, basal plate, and chorioamniotic membranes of women with or without labor at term and those with preterm labor. </p>
Project description:The human placenta, a transient endocrine organ, is vital for successful pregnancy and fetal health, which undergoes dynamic cellular and functional changes during gestation. However, systematic longitudinal analysis of in utero human placenta formation and development across the lifespan is not feasible due to ethical and technical limit. To circumvent those difficulties and reveal the dynamic placentation, we obtain transcriptional snapshots of 217404 single cells from cynomolgus monkey placenta, decidua and embryo tissues spanning ten consecutive but distinct developmental stages across pregnancy. We reveal the development-related changes in the compositions of placental trophoblasts, mesenchymal cells and endothelial cells in different pregnant stage. We pinpoint that the placenta mesenchymal cells are derived from a special extra-embryonic mesoderm. Particularly, we describe the relationship between the embryonic primitive hematopoiesis and the placental endothelial cells, Hofbauer cells and erythrocytes. Besides, we found the cell types and their transcriptome compositions in decidual tissues show insignificant changes during the gestation. Finally, cell-cell interactions between trophoblasts and decidual cells, and between different cell types on villi are performed and suggested the mechanisms in dynamic placentation. Together, the high-resolution atlas we constructed would serve as a valuable resource to extrapolate key events for studies on human placentation and its associated disorders.