Qian Li, Andrew Sharkey, Megan Sheridan, Elisa Magistrati, Anna Arutyunyan, Oisin Huhn, Carmen Sancho-Serra, Holly Anderson, Naomi McGovern, Laura Esposito, Ridma Fernando, Lucy Gardner, Roser Vento-Tormo, Margherita Yayoi Turco, Ashley Moffett
In humans, balanced invasion of trophoblast cells into the uterine mucosa, the decidua, is critical for successful pregnancy. Evidence suggests that this process is regulated by uterine natural killer (uNK) cells, but how they influence reproductive outcomes is unclear. Here, we used our trophoblast organoids and primary tissue samples to determine how uNK cells affect placentation. By locating potential interaction axes between trophoblast and uNK cells using single-cell transcriptomics and in vitro modeling of these interactions in organoids, we identify a uNK cell-derived cytokine signal that promotes trophoblast differentiation at the late stage of the invasive pathway...
January 10, 2024: Cell Stem Cell