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Li SY, DeMayo FJ. Revolutionizing Implantation Studies: Uterine-Specific Models and Advanced Technologies. Biomolecules 2025; 15:450. [PMID: 40149986 PMCID: PMC11940528 DOI: 10.3390/biom15030450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2025] [Revised: 03/10/2025] [Accepted: 03/17/2025] [Indexed: 03/29/2025] Open
Abstract
Implantation is a complex and tightly regulated process essential for the establishment of pregnancy. It involves dynamic interactions between a receptive uterus and a competent embryo, orchestrated by ovarian hormones such as estrogen and progesterone. These hormones regulate proliferation, differentiation, and gene expression within the three primary uterine tissue types: myometrium, stroma, and epithelium. Advances in genetic manipulation, particularly the Cre/loxP system, have enabled the in vivo investigation of the role of genes in a uterine compartmental and cell type-specific manner, providing valuable insights into uterine biology during pregnancy and disease. The development of endometrial organoids has further revolutionized implantation research. They mimic the native endometrial structure and function, offering a powerful platform for studying hormonal responses, implantation, and maternal-fetal interactions. Combined with omics technologies, these models have uncovered the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways that regulate implantation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of uterine-specific genetic tools, endometrial organoids, and omics. We explore how these advancements enhance our understanding of implantation biology, uterine receptivity, and decidualization in reproductive research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Francesco John DeMayo
- Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC 27709, USA;
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Gonzalez TL, Wertheimer S, Flowers AE, Wang Y, Santiskulvong C, Clark EL, Jefferies CA, Lawrenson K, Chan JL, Joshi NV, Zhu Y, Tseng HR, Karumanchi SA, Williams III J, Pisarska MD. High-throughput mRNA-seq atlas of human placenta shows vast transcriptome remodeling from first to third trimester†. Biol Reprod 2024; 110:936-949. [PMID: 38271627 PMCID: PMC11094392 DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioae007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
The placenta, composed of chorionic villi, changes dramatically across gestation. Understanding differences in ongoing pregnancies are essential to identify the role of chorionic villi at specific times in gestation and develop biomarkers and prognostic indicators of maternal-fetal health. The normative mRNA profile is established using next-generation sequencing of 124 first trimester and 43 third trimester human placentas from ongoing healthy pregnancies. Stably expressed genes (SEGs) not different between trimesters and with low variability are identified. Differential expression analysis of first versus third trimester adjusted for fetal sex is performed, followed by a subanalysis with 23 matched pregnancies to control for subject variability using the same genetic and environmental background. Placenta expresses 14,979 polyadenylated genes above sequencing noise (transcripts per million > 0.66), with 10.7% SEGs across gestation. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) account for 86.7% of genes in the full cohort [false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05]. Fold changes highly correlate between the full cohort and subanalysis (Pearson = 0.98). At stricter thresholds (FDR < 0.001, fold change > 1.5), there remains 50.1% DEGs (3353 upregulated in first and 4155 upregulated in third trimester). This is the largest mRNA atlas of healthy human placenta across gestation, controlling for genetic and environmental factors, demonstrating substantial changes from first to third trimester in chorionic villi. Specific differences and SEGs may be used to understand the specific role of the chorionic villi throughout gestation and develop first trimester biomarkers of placental health that transpire across gestation, which can be used for future development of biomarkers for maternal-fetal health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania L Gonzalez
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sahar Wertheimer
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Amy E Flowers
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yizhou Wang
- Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chintda Santiskulvong
- CS Cancer Applied Genomics Shared Resource, CS Cancer, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ekaterina L Clark
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Caroline A Jefferies
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Kao Autoimmune Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kate Lawrenson
- Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Women’s Cancer Research Program, Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jessica L Chan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Nikhil V Joshi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yazhen Zhu
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- California NanoSystems Institute, Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hsian-Rong Tseng
- California NanoSystems Institute, Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - John Williams III
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Margareta D Pisarska
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Potiris A, Alyfanti E, Drakaki E, Mavrogianni D, Karampitsakos T, Machairoudias P, Topis S, Zikopoulos A, Skentou C, Panagopoulos P, Drakakis P, Stavros S. The Contribution of Proteomics in Understanding Endometrial Protein Expression in Women with Recurrent Implantation Failure. J Clin Med 2024; 13:2145. [PMID: 38610911 PMCID: PMC11012239 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13072145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2024] [Revised: 04/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) poses a significant challenge in assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes. The endometrium plays a crucial role in embryo implantation, and its protein expression profile is integral in determining receptivity. Proteomics has emerged as a valuable tool in unraveling the molecular intricacies underlying endometrial receptivity and RIF. The aim of the present review is to analyze the contribution of proteomics to the understanding of endometrial protein expression in women with RIF, based on the results of significant proteomic studies. Medline/Pubmed databases were searched using keywords pertaining to proteomics combined with terms related to RIF. 15 studies were included in the present review. Several proteins have been found to exbibit differential expression in endometrial biopsies and fluid samples between fertile women and women with RIF during the receptive endometrial phase. The profile of endometrial proteins varied significantly among the studies. Nevertheless, similar changes in the expression levels of annexin-6, progesterone receptor, MMP-2, and MMP-9 in the endometrium of women with RIF, were found in more than one study indicating that certain proteins could potentially be effective biomarkers of endometrial receptivity. Proteomics contributes significantly to the understanding of protein expression in the endometrium of women with RIF and the analysis of proteins in endometrial fluid are promising for improving the clinical management of RIF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasios Potiris
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
| | - Eleni Alyfanti
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
| | - Eirini Drakaki
- First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, Alexandra Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11528 Athens, Greece; (E.D.); (D.M.)
| | - Despoina Mavrogianni
- First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, Alexandra Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11528 Athens, Greece; (E.D.); (D.M.)
| | - Theodoros Karampitsakos
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
| | - Pavlos Machairoudias
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
| | - Spyridon Topis
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
| | - Athanasios Zikopoulos
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske, Truro TR1 3LQ, UK;
| | - Chara Skentou
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School of the University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece;
| | - Periklis Panagopoulos
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
| | - Peter Drakakis
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
| | - Sofoklis Stavros
- Third Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University General Hospital “ATTIKON”, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 12462 Athens, Greece; (E.A.); (T.K.); (P.M.); (S.T.); (P.P.); (P.D.); (S.S.)
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