Characterization of highly proliferative decidual precursor cells during the window of implantation in human endometrium

Embryo implantation requires intensive tissue remodeling of the midluteal endometrium, driven by differentiation of resident stromal cells into decidual cells, uterine NK (uNK) cell ‐mediated clearance of acute senescent decidual cells, and transvascular migration and engraftment of highly proliferating mesenchymal cells (hPMC), which differentiate in situ into clonogenic decidual precursor cells. AbstractPregnancy depends on the wholesale transformation of the endometrium, a process driven by differentiation of endometrial stromal cells (EnSC) into specialist decidual cells. Upon embryo implantation, decidual cells impart the tissue plasticity needed to accommodate a rapidly growing conceptus and invading placenta, although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here we characterize a discrete population of highly proliferative mesenchymal cells (hPMC) in midluteal human endometrium, coinciding with the window of embryo implantation. Single ‐cell transcriptomics demonstrated that hPMC express genes involved in chemotaxis and vascular transmigration. Although distinct from resident EnSC, hPMC also express genes encoding pivotal decidual transcription factors and markers, most prominently prolactin. We further show that hPMC are enrich ed around spiral arterioles, scattered throughout the stroma, and occasionally present in glandular and luminal epithelium. The abundance of hPMC correlated with the in vitro colony‐forming unit activity of midluteal endometrium and, conve...
Source: Stem Cells - Category: Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Tissue ‐Specific Stem Cells Source Type: research