Project description:Trophoblasts undergos dynamic differentiation and self-renewal during pregnancy. Expecially, EVTs anchor the placenta to the uterus to ensure pregnancy success, and its invasive excessiveness is a probable consequence of ruptured tubal ectopic pregnancy (REP), that resulting in maternal infertile and/or even deaths. We present REP, abortive tubal ectopic pregnancy (AEP)and intrauterine pregnancy (IP) atlas by integrating single-cell RNA-seq. We define cell subtypes within EVTs and each of the feature genes. Further, we utilize monocle3 and RNA velocty to identify the developmental trajectories of EVT subsets. CellPhoneDB and cell-chat unravel secretion of CSF1 by falloppian tubal secretory epithelial cells directly interact with CSF1R of EVT to strengthens the invasive ability.
Project description:Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) infection of 3rd trimester pregnant pigs can result in transmission of the virus to the fetus and ultimately death in utero or postnatally. Little is known about the immune response to infection at the maternal-fetal interface and in the fetus itself, or the molecular events behind virus transmission and disease progression in the fetus. To investigate these processes, RNA-sequencing of two tissues, uterine endothelium adjacent to the umbilical attachment site and fetal thymus, was performed 21 days post challenge on four groups of fetuses selected from a large PRRSV challenge experiment of pregnant gilts.
Project description:Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) infection of 3rd trimester pregnant pigs can result in transmission of the virus to the fetus and ultimately death in utero or postnatally. Little is known about the immune response to infection at the maternal-fetal interface and in the fetus itself, or the molecular events behind virus transmission and disease progression in the fetus. To investigate these processes, RNA-sequencing of two tissues, uterine endothelium adjacent to the umbilical attachment site and fetal thymus, was performed 21 days post challenge on four groups of fetuses selected from a large PRRSV challenge experiment of pregnant gilts. RNA-seq experiment compared gene expression between four different groups of fetuses (n=12 per group): control (CON-uninfected fetuses from mock inoculated gilts), UNINF (uninfected fetuses from PRRSV-inoculated gilts), INF (infected fetuses from PRRSV-inoculated gilts), and meconium-stained fetuses (MEC-meconium-stained fetuses from PRRSV-inoculated gilts) and investigated two tissues: uterine endometrium (with adherent placental tissue) at the site of umbilical attachment and fetal thymus (96 samples in total). Three contrasts were performed for the differential expression (edgeR) and network (WGCNA) analyses: UNINF v CON, INF v UNINF, and MEC v INF.
Project description:Maternal and fetal monocytes and tissue macrophages (decidual macrophages, Hofbauer cells) at the feto-maternal interface have different methylome. Paired and balanced design. We compared maternal blood monocytes (MB) vs. cord blood monocytes (CB), maternal blood monocytes (MB) vs. decidual macrophages (Deci), cord blood monocytes (CB) vs placental macrophages (villi) and decidual macrophages (Deci) vs. placental macrophages (villi).
Project description:Maternal and fetal monocytes and tissue macrophages (decidual macrophages, Hofbauer cells) at the feto-maternal interface have different methylome.
Project description:The first trimester is a critical window of maternal-fetal communication for pregnancy. RNA-sequencing of matched maternal decidua (4) and placenta (4) identified 91 sexually dimorphic receptor-ligand pairs across the maternal-fetal interface, 32 in females and 59 in males.
Project description:Pregnant women appear to be at increased risk for severe outcomes associated with COVID-19, but the pathophysiology underlying this increased morbidity and its potential impact on the developing fetus is not well understood. In this study of pregnant women with and without COVID-19, we assessed viral and immune dynamics at the placenta during maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. Viral RNA was only rarely detected in the placentas from SARS-CoV-2-positive women in our cohort, with only 1/11 positive for infection at the maternal-fetal interface. Through bulk RNA transcriptomic analyses, we found that placentas from SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnancies exhibited inflammatory markers of immune activation, even in the majority of samples which did not show local invasion of the virus. These markers are associated with pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and poor fetal outcomes. Overall, this study suggests that SARS-CoV-2 is associated with immune activation at the maternal-fetal interface even in the absence of detectable local viral invasion. While this likely represents a protective mechanism shielding the placenta from infection, inflammatory changes in the placenta may also contribute to poor pregnancy outcomes and thus warrant further investigation.
Project description:Preterm birth is a main determinant of neonatal mortality and morbidity and a major contributor to the overall mortality and burden of disease. However, precise phenotyping of the preterm birth is hampered by the imprecise definition of the clinical phenotype and complexity of the molecular phenotype due to multiple pregnancy tissue types and molecular processes that may contribute to the preterm birth. The studyâ??s aim was to comprehensively evaluate the mRNA transcriptome that characterizes preterm and term labor using precisely phenotyped samples. Expression profiles of 73 genes and non-coding RNA sequences uniquely identified the four groups of patients: delivering preterm with (PL) and without labor (PNL), term with (TL) and without labor (TNL). The largest differences in gene expression among the four groups occurred in decidua, chorion and amnion. The gene expression profiles showed suppression of chemokines expression in TNL, withdrawal of this suppression in TL, activation of multiple pathways of inflammation in PL, and an immune rejection profile in PNL. The genes constituting expression signatures showed over-representation of three putative regulatory elements in their 5â?? and 3â??UTR regions. The results suggest that pregnancy is maintained by downregulation of chemokines at the maternal-fetal interface. Withdrawal of this downregulation results in the term birth and its overriding by the activation of multiple pathways of the immune system in the preterm birth. Complications of the pregnancy associated with impairment of placental function, which necessitated premature delivery of the fetus in the absence of labor, show gene expression patterns associated with immune rejection. 183 total RNA samples from 8 tissue types collected from 35 women grouped into six categories of pregnancy outcome. One microarray replicate per sample. Other Contributors: Radek Bukowski, Sam Parry and the NICHD Genomic and Proteomic Network for Preterm Birth Research